State playoffs in the future for 10 local soccer teams

Fri, 04/13/2007 - 10:39am
By: Michael Boylan

McIntosh’s boys, ranked first in Class AAAA, are ranked second in the nation in the most recent National Soccer Coaches Association of America, just below Greenville, S.C. The Chiefs (14-0-2, 7-0 region) defeated Westlake 15-0 on Tuesday night and are off until next Monday’s home game with the Fayette County Tigers. McIntosh has won the region title. Even if they lose to the Tigers next Monday and Starr’s Mill defeats Woodward Academy on Friday, they would claim the title since they beat Starr’s Mill head to head.

The Lady Chiefs (8-7, 4-2), ranked third in AAAA, defeated Westlake 16-0 on Tuesday. They got three goals and two assists from Meghan O’Rourke, two goals a piece from KC Hewitt, Kaelyn Horton and Anna D’Andrea and one goal a piece from Kerri Reid, Jessalyn Moore, Kelsey Quinn, Tawny Moffat, Erin Pincombe, Chelsea Clements, Betsy Rudd and Christine Villanueva. On Wednesday, the girls (8-7) lost to Westminster, the second ranked team in AAA, 1-0. They will host Fayette County on Monday at 5:30 p.m.

As region champs, McIntosh’s boys will host a game to open the state playoffs, while the Lady Chiefs will be on the road to open the playoffs. They can capture the third seed with a win on Monday.

Starr’s Mill’s girls (9-2-1, 5-1), ranked sixth in AAAA, defeated Newnan 5-1 on Tuesday. Carlie Banks scored two goals and recorded two assists, while Olivia Serbun added two goals, Katrin Frost added one goal and one assist and Laura McCalla added one assist. The boys, ranked third in AAAA, lost to Newnan 1-0. The Starr’s Mill boys (9-2-3, 6-1) lost to Newnan 1-0 on Tuesday. Starr’s Mill will host Woodward Academy on Friday. The Woodward girls are ranked first in AAAA and the boys are ranked eighth. Both the Starr’s Mill boys and girls will start the playoffs at home.

Whitewater’s boys (10-4, 5-2), ranked fifth in AAAA, faced Northgate (9-6, 3-5) on Tuesday night and won 1-0 off a free kick by Kyle Adams from about midfield. It was headed in by a Northgate player. According to coach Shane Pulliam, others playing well for the Wildcats were Zach Taylor, Andy DeBusk, Kyle Adams and Jordan Cooper. Whitewater will play St Pius on Friday at 7:30 p.m.

Over spring break Whitewater’s boys finished second at the Southern Soccer Tournament, which is the top high school tournament for boys during the spring season. To get in, teams have to be regionally and/or nationally ranked. The Wildcats beat Edmond Memorial, Okla. 1-0 off a goal by Matt Dziejowski, then beat Randolph School, Ala., last years #4 team in U.S., 5-3. Whitewater scored five goals in the first half and sat out the starters the second half to stay within the GHSA three-half rule in a day. Ryan Pugh scored three goals and Josh Adair and Victor Murray each added a goal. Whitewater lost in the championship game to Grissom, Ala. (#1 6-AAAAAA) 3-1. Ryan Pugh scored the only goal.

The Lady Wildcats (8-4-1, 5-2), ranked seventh, won 2-0. The goals were scored by Feagan Hunt and Brittany Vining. Coach Heather Allen stated that Bailey Powell, Morganne Grimes, Katie Schwartz, and Jewelia Strickland all played well defensively.

“Holly Crawford did great crossing balls in for us,” said Allen. “We played a really good game considering we just came back from spring break. It was a needed win to advance to the playoffs.”

Whitewater’s boys and girls will start the state playoffs on the road.

Fayette County’s boys (9-4-1, 5-2) clinched the fourth spot in region 4-AAAA by defeating Woodward Academy 1-0. Chris Feigenbaum scored the goal off an assist from Luis Martinez. The Tiger defense, led by Ryan Whitehead, Nathan Bogert and Tim Smith, played stout and the strikers, Martinez, Sean Pietromonaco, Tope Mumuney and Okurin Aiyankhebor, worked hard to create scoring chances. The Lady Tigers (1-8, 1-4) lost 3-0 to the top ranked Lady War Eagles.
East Coweta’s boys had a game with Newton County cancelled on Tuesday. Both the boys (10-5, 5-1) and girls (12-3, 5-1) will host Northgate tonight with the girls playing at 6 p.m. and the boys playing afterwards. Both teams will have home games to start the state playoffs.

Our Lady of Mercy’s boys clinched their first ever trip to the state playoffs with a win over Lamar County over spring break. The Bobcats are off until their first round appearance.

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