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Post by guest on Apr 30, 2019 10:03:21 GMT -5
Douglas County Girls went 10-5-2 this past year, 5-3 in their region. Those first round playoff games mean a lot to those schools from “worse” regions. Sure, Forest Park lost 7-0 to Valdosta first round, and Valdosta isn’t a good team, but making it to the playoffs is huge to them. Maybe we shouldn’t be so condescending towards them...after all, high school sports is about participation over everything else. Apologies if I was wrong. I got my info from Eurosport which is usually pretty reliable. My only issue is having 4 teams from each region get in no matter what is problematic. Some 4th seed teams get in to the playoffs winning only a game or two all year. Other teams go 10-6, beating many playoff bound teams, only to sit at home as the 5th seed. I’d like to see maybe three automatic bids per region, then some at-large bids based on strength of schedule, quality wins, etc. Then you wouldn’t have South Gwinnett get in each year, whose only wins are against winless Shiloh and Meadowcreek.
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Post by girlsoccer on Apr 30, 2019 13:22:06 GMT -5
We have some good games this week in 7A Girls Soccer. It is ashamed that some of these teams are going to get knock out in the sweet 16. Looking forward to this week and next. Can the Lambert express keep going? Will Walton give Hillgrove a tough matchup? Is Lassiter overlooking a tough Kennesaw Mtn team for a rematch with Parkview? Can Roswell get back on track? Can Milton dethrone the champs? Can Camden County keep South Georgia alive in the playoffs? Looking forward to the answers of these questions. Let the round 2 trash talking begin
That is a nice recap of 7A. I know 7A and 6A the best and have seen essentially all of our local teams play this year, so I'll tackle 6A. After round one- to me the biggest surprise was region 1 advanced all 4 teams. Maybe that speaks to the weakness of their opponent, Region 4 (I haven't seen any of those teams play), but kudos to region 1 for a great first round. Other strong performances from regions 7 and 8, each advancing 3 teams.
Some good games tomorrow is 6A as well. The biggest showdown should be between Dunwoody ranked number 6 and Dacula ranked number 7. Despite Dacula's 14-2 record, I think Dunwoody (at 13-4) has the edge in this one since their schedule has been much more challenging. The winner of that fight has the privilege of (likely) facing Glynn Academy, who was in the championship game last year. That upper L bracket is a tough one this year. Bottom L bracket should have Heritage easily taking care of Valdosta and Pope facing Alexander. Pope's record is deceiving at 9-9-1 because they have played one of the toughest schedules in the state facing difficult region 7 opponents but also tackling the likes of Roswell, Lassiter, Parkview, BT, Harrison, and Walton as their out of region games. Edge to Pope in my estimation. Upper R bracket- Johns Creek seems to have a pretty easy ride to the final four after their scare going to PKs with Sprayberry last week. The highest ranked opponent JC faces would be Lakeside at number 10 in the elite eight game. JC should roll over Lanier tomorrow. And lastly bottom R- I'd expect Harrison to have an easy time with Apalachee. It looks like another big game is Richmond Hill versus Houston County. Both teams have quality wins and close loses to good competition this year. Richmond Hill lost to Glynn academy twice this year but each time by only one goal and Houston County mercy-ruled their opponent last week and mercy ruled Valdosta earlier this year (and Valdosta is still in the playoffs). I'm going out on a limb and picking Richmond Hill (though I haven't seen either play this year).
Games to watch for- Dunwody- Dacula, and Richmond Hill- Houston County
Good luck to everyone! Would love to read a breakdown of any of the other divisions.
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Post by observer on May 1, 2019 11:19:35 GMT -5
7A Was a football driven decision that has put too much stress on travel because of isolation. Look at the schools in south Georgia that are 7A region 1. Camden County to Lowndes County 2 hours 26 min. by car not by cheese wagon Camden County to Tift County 2 hour 20 min. Camden County to Colquitt County 2 hours and 57 min. The switch took away some big natural sports rivalries. Valdosta vs Lowndes to name one. Coffee vs. Tift. Think of some of the other sports that this travel has put a strain on. Below is a link to the High School enrollment numbers that they built the classifications and regions with not counting. Soccer for 'A' public and "A' private were done differently. www.ghsa.net/sites/default/files/documents/executive-committee/Classes_with_Regions_for_2015-17.pdf
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Post by girlsoccer on May 1, 2019 11:53:36 GMT -5
7A Was a football driven decision that has put too much stress on travel because of isolation. Look at the schools in south Georgia that are 7A region 1. Camden County to Lowndes County 2 hours 26 min. by car not by cheese wagon Camden County to Tift County 2 hour 20 min. Camden County to Colquitt County 2 hours and 57 min. The switch took away some big natural sports rivalries. Valdosta vs Lowndes to name one. Coffee vs. Tift. Think of some of the other sports that this travel has put a strain on. Below is a link to the High School enrollment numbers that they built the classifications and regions with not counting. Soccer for 'A' public and "A' private were done differently. www.ghsa.net/sites/default/files/documents/executive-committee/Classes_with_Regions_for_2015-17.pdfThanks for that chart. Interesting to see the wide variations in enrollment numbers, especially in 7A. Now I’m even more impressed with the success Lassiter and Roswell have had seeingvthat they are just over half the size of some of the other 7A schools. No wonder Parkview and Brookwood are good- they have twice as many kids to choose from. If ghsa merged 6A and 7A the current 6 A schools would have little chance to even make playoffs. Very difficult for a school of 1500 to compete with a school of close to 4000. That’s not any fairer than making the AA schools with several hundred kids play against schools with 2000 kids.
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Post by guest on May 1, 2019 14:57:50 GMT -5
Compared to the rest of the classes, 7A does have the largest spread. The largest school in 7A is That School Down Braselton Hwy at almost 4000. Smallest is Mountain View at just over 2000. That spread is 2000 or almost double. In 6A the spread is only about 400 or about 25%. TSDBH should be winning every year. For a team made up of almost all ECNL players and an ECNL coach, they are one of the most underperforming, IMHO.
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Post by rocko1989 on May 1, 2019 15:26:18 GMT -5
7A Was a football driven decision that has put too much stress on travel because of isolation. Look at the schools in south Georgia that are 7A region 1. Camden County to Lowndes County 2 hours 26 min. by car not by cheese wagon Camden County to Tift County 2 hour 20 min. Camden County to Colquitt County 2 hours and 57 min. The switch took away some big natural sports rivalries. Valdosta vs Lowndes to name one. Coffee vs. Tift. Think of some of the other sports that this travel has put a strain on. Below is a link to the High School enrollment numbers that they built the classifications and regions with not counting. Soccer for 'A' public and "A' private were done differently. www.ghsa.net/sites/default/files/documents/executive-committee/Classes_with_Regions_for_2015-17.pdfI am not debating the merits of your argument regarding distance for many schools. Saying that, Lowndes and Valdosta can play anytime they please. They are in the same county after all. Perhaps you simply mean for region competition this change has been rough. Camden is a long way from pretty much anywhere!
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Post by keeper100 on May 1, 2019 18:17:35 GMT -5
While the bigger schools definitely have an advantage, so of the smaller schools are doing more than just holding their own. I find it pretty disappointing that the biggest 6A schools are only about 30 students smaller than the smallest 7A schools. Obviously they have to draw a line somewhere, but I have no doubt some districts/schools juke the numbers to make sure they stay in a favorable classification.
Let’s hear it for the smaller schools that are still fighting the big guys!
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Post by observer on May 2, 2019 11:25:33 GMT -5
A look at single 'A' boys public bracket. Look at the bracket you must understand that pubic schools have had a big disadvantage playing against private schools in the past. Consider this one piece of evidence. 2016 and 2014 featured Lagos Kunga winning a state championship with Paideia as a freshman and junior. He has represented the USA on various levels. Lagos now plays for AU II He attended Paideia on a full ride scholarship. High school tuition currently stands at over $25,000 a year.
Looking backward in order to look forward. Seven single 'A" public teams made the single 'A' 32 team field in last year. One of the 7 Woodville-Tompkins moved to 2A this season. Both A public and A private started the playoffs at the sweet sixteen. Big surprise(not) all six of the remaining teams made the playoffs. Five of the six made the elite 8. Top of the bracket down.
Lake Oconne Academy at Claxton Claxton played GMC the #1 rated team in A public early in the season and lost 4-0. LOA played GMC and lost 2-1. Claxton beat a #2 seed Echols in the first round 3-2. LOA beat the one of the six from last year Elite Scholars 5-1 pick LOA
Morris Innovative at The Academy for Classical Education this is the one I do not have a lot of feel for ACE played GMC twice this season and lost 5-2 and 3-2. ACE beat Chattahoocee 8-2. MI beat Towns 3-1. Maxpreps has MI as the #3 team in A. I will go MI.
Drew Charter at Atkinson County. Maxpreps gives a lot of credit to #3 DC for beating 5A Carver Carver twice and losing to 5A Jackson. They pick them to win over ATCO. ATCO has a pretty good run of playing tough teams. They have played three AA teams that advanced to the second round losing and tieing two of them (Thomasville final 4 last year and Fitzgerald)and tieing and winning against one(Jeff Davis) . Beat 2 seed AAA Pierce They beat one 6 A twice(4 seed) team that made the playoffs and did not advance. They lost to 7A region champs Lowdnes 5-3 after being tied 3-3 at half. Maxpreps likes DC. I will go with ATCO they have a better resume IMHO.
Georgia Military vs. Trion. I had this long thing that I was going to write up featuring the fact that GMC was the only "A public school" to make it to the 2nd round of the playoffs last year. They had a double header last night with their girls. GMC beat Trion 2-1. You will have to believe me when I say I picked GMC.
I had planned on doing this for AA but have run out of time. AA lost state champion Benedictine to AAA this year. Big game to look at this week is Thomasville vs. Woodville-Tompkins winner of this game makes the finals IMHO. Thomasville lost to Benedictine in the semis last year.
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Post by fan on May 3, 2019 6:11:52 GMT -5
Two #4 seed teams have advanced in 7A boys: Roswell and N. Paulding. We’ll done!
Four #1 seeds are left: Lakeside, Hillgrove, Lambert and Milton.
#2: Meadowcreek and Kennesaw Mountain
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Post by keeper100 on May 3, 2019 8:00:19 GMT -5
Two #4 seed teams have advanced in 7A boys: Roswell and N. Paulding. We’ll done! Four #1 seeds are left: Lakeside, Hillgrove, Lambert and Milton. #2: Meadowcreek and Kennesaw Mountain Also, 3 teams from Region 3, 2 from Region 5 and 7, and 1 from Region 4. Who would’ve thought Region 3 was so strong? Also, does anyone have predictions about the next round?
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Post by observer on May 3, 2019 10:08:24 GMT -5
Ok: I am going to go ahead and do my look at 'A' boys. I was arguably 3 for 4 just did not get my pick in soon enough for everyone to see in the GMC vs. Trion game.
Top of the bracket Lake Oconee Academy at Academy for Classical Education.. I was correct in my pick of LOA beat Claxton 4-1. I missed on ACE making it. ACE beat Morris Innovative 5-1. They have a common opponent GMC the #1 team. ACE lost twice 3-2 and 5-2. LOA lost once 2-1 early in the season. I like teams that play difficult out of conference games. LOA played Aquinas who made it to A private playoffs lost 2-1, AA Social Circle who actually play today in the sweet sixteen in AA and won 2-1 and beat AAA 4 seed Hart County 2-1. ACE's lack of a resume makes this pick pretty easy. LOA
Atkinson County at GMC.. I was correct in my pick of ATCO over Drew Charter 6-2. I will take credit for GMC over Trion 2-1 in PK's even though it was not posted here before the game. I will save the rundown of ATCO's opponents as you can look above. Since, I did not get to GMC's I will review them. They played and beat a weak 7A team very early in the season in Newton. They waffle stomped a very weak #2 seed AA Jefferson who was bumped out by a #3 seed 3-0(I could go on further). The beat Baldwin #2 seed in AAAA that lost in the first round. The lost 4-2 to AAA Benedictine(sweet sixteen team). They won against Social Circle AA sweet sixteen 2-1. Lost against AA Putnam sweet sixteen 4-2. A small addendum to ATCO's opponents is that Thomasville and Jeff Davis have both advanced to the sweet sixteen in AA. Both these teams have superior resumes. The winner of this game is my pick to win the first 'A' public state championship. This is Maxpreps #1 vs #2. Maxpreps picks GMC. My pick is ATCO
BTW the AA boys game I said was big and I stated the winner makes the finals. Thomasville beat Woodville-Thompkins 3-2 in overtime. Maybe I will have time to post about the AA bracket.
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Post by SoccerMom on May 3, 2019 17:14:09 GMT -5
Total all in for girls at Forsyth Co school....$1,200. Not all Forsyth Co. Schools. I believe only Lambert and West pay that much..and I heard it was more than that? They do a trip The rest are around $350
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Post by observer on May 8, 2019 9:46:42 GMT -5
AA boys picks
Upper left Pepperel at Vidalia... Wavered on this one winner makes the finals. Vidalia
Bottom left Jeff Davis at Union County... Weird match 2 #4 seeds. I will go with the home team Union County
Upper right Putnam at Harlem.. Harlem
Bottom right Bremen at Thomasville... as I said my pick from the right side Thomasville
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Post by EastATL on May 9, 2019 10:56:04 GMT -5
So, 1A Private and Public are both at the finals already (they started with 16 teams instead of 32).
Public: Girls - Atlanta Classical Academy v. Academy for Classical Education Boys - Lake Oconee Academy v. Georgia Military College
Private: Girls - Pinecrest Academy v. Wesleyan Boys - Wesleyan v. Whitefield Academy
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Post by fan on May 9, 2019 20:13:28 GMT -5
Has it been determined yet which classifications will play their final in Macon and which ones play at McEachern?
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Post by EastATL on May 10, 2019 7:31:08 GMT -5
Has it been determined yet which classifications will play their final in Macon and which ones play at McEachern? Only 1A. All 4 1A finals are on Thursday. Public is at Mercer; Private is at McEachern www.ghsa.net/ghsa-soccer-state-championship
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Post by observer on May 10, 2019 10:57:58 GMT -5
Ok .. 'A' semi finals I picked ATCO over GMC I missed this pick. I am aware that this was a great game. GMC won in pks after the seventh kicker. Lake Oconee Academy over ACE Charter they won 4-2.
Pick for the finals GMC
I was 3 of 4 for the 'AA' sweet sixteen only missing on Harlem over Putnam...
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Post by fridge on May 10, 2019 13:56:00 GMT -5
Just a note to defend High School--which I would not have done a few years ago but experience has opened my mind immensely. First, HS season is about 3 months, it is a good hiatus from highly competitive soccer and may prevent burnout. It is fun and they play with friends so it is not "work" or a "grind" like club can be after 9 months. Second, it allows kids to hopefully be in a more unrestricted environment where club is 100% serious all the time and it does not usually allow kids to take risks. Third, it allows kids to play a different position. All defenders in club should be playing mid and striker part of the HS season. It helps w/ touches and gives them an idea of what the other guy is thinking when they move back to playing defense in club. Fourth, in HS play, midfielders and strikers can take risks and do things they normally wouldn't do. My kids club team is so good that she always has teammates bailing her out of tough situations. In HS, she has little support and so, must "go it alone" quite often which is building confidence and promoting creativity. Fifth, #4 goes for defenders and keepers.
Bottom line, I personally don't think getting in 20 DA team practices or doing private training during this time frame moves the needle in player development as much as 90 days in HS with these unique experiences. The returns as to the latter are diminishing and the returns from HS are unique. Approach it w/ an open mind as it took HS to actually open mine.
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Post by keeper100 on May 10, 2019 16:17:42 GMT -5
Really well said! I would add that HS tends to be a lot more physical. While that is not necessarily good, it is something that players need to learn how to deal with.
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Post by fan on May 10, 2019 16:52:27 GMT -5
Having your classmates in the stands is another big plus of playing HS. Check out some of the games next week, especially the bigger schools. Some of these games get bigger crowds than football games (and much bigger crowds than club games).
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Post by observer on May 13, 2019 13:28:11 GMT -5
Single A boys Finals prediction GMC
AA semi's
Putnam at Thomasville made this pick earlier but to make it clear Thomasville Union County at Vidalia same here mountain boys have to travel heck of a run for a #4 seed but it ends now Vidalia
Finals pick Thomasville
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Post by fan on May 14, 2019 20:14:50 GMT -5
7A girls - N Gwinnett and Lambert advance.
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Post by Goalkeeper Dad on May 14, 2019 20:20:19 GMT -5
Anybody know about the 6A scores
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Post by soccerloafer on May 14, 2019 20:22:37 GMT -5
Harrison just won in PKs (girls)
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Post by girlsoccer on May 14, 2019 20:25:07 GMT -5
Anybody know about the 6A scores Dacula pounded Heritage 6-0
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Post by fan on May 14, 2019 20:32:00 GMT -5
7A boys Lakeside advanced.
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Post by justreading on May 14, 2019 21:44:25 GMT -5
5A Finals Boys - Starr's Mill v MacIntosh Girls - Whitewater v MacIntosh (repeat of last year, with WHS winning in PK)
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Post by fan on May 14, 2019 21:44:42 GMT -5
7A boys - Lambert advances after PKs. We’ll done - both the boys and girls advance to the championships.
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Post by gaprospects on May 14, 2019 22:41:52 GMT -5
7A boys final is Lambert vs. Lakeside. 2nd year in a row without a Gwinnett team in the final, which was unheard of not too long ago.
6A bosy final is Dalton vs. Gainesville as both Cambridge and Pope go down in the semis. Dalton is the best HS team in the nation by most sources so if Gainesville could pull the upset it would be pretty stunning.
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Post by surgesoccer on May 14, 2019 22:45:46 GMT -5
7A Boys Lambert game was a good game. Lambert had the better play but Meadow Creek was dangerous at times. Meadow Creek went up 1-0 in the second minute with a great chip pass to player who then chipped the goal keeper. Lambert thought they equalized on a open net goal but player was offsides. About 10 minutes later they leveled the game off a put back from a 40 yard free kick that hit the top post.
After half Lambert was dominant but could not put the ball in the back of the net. They hit the cross bar 3 times and the Meadow Creek goal keeper made 3-4 great saves. With 8 minutes to go Meadow Creek player got a second yellow, on what i thought was a week foul, and they went down a man. Lambert pushed to get a goal but within two minutes Meadow Creek was able to fashion 3 goal opportunities with one a 20 foot shot that the Lambert keeper stoped.
In overtime for the first 4 minutes Meadow Creek threatened but after that it was all Lambert. Another great save by the Meadow Creek goal keeper sent the game to PK's.
Lamberts goal keeper blocked the first two shote. Lambert hit their first two but the third was blocked. Meadow Creek then hit the next two to tie it up, but the next two Lambert player hit the back of the net ending the game.
#whenhighschoolsoccerisgood
Lambert girls had an easier game but they did not look as dominant as normal against Brookwood. Some sloppy passes, though the first goal was as good as it get. Left wing beat the defender around the edge and slotted to the charging striker who drilled it. Second goal was almost blocked by the Brookwood goal keeper but was judged to have crossed before the shot was pushed out by the keeper. Third goal was a pk.
5 hours of good high school soccer.
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