Rankings become irrelevant once the playoffs start. In the second round of the Georgia High School Association girls soccer playoffs last week, top-seeded teams Buford (7A), Jefferson (5A), and Cherokee Bluff (4A) all discovered this.
Both the Lady Dragons (3-2 over Chattahoochee) and the Lady Wolves (1-0 over Milton) overcame one-goal victories at home.
In the playoffs’ Elite 8 round on Monday, both will be put to the test once more. In a hard-fought Class 4A second-round contest, Cherokee Bluff (16-4) defeated Southeast Whitfield 2-0 at home. However, Bristol Kersh, a standout freshman, was not present.
Defense is a recurring theme for all three teams. Jefferson has scored four goals this season, while Buford has only allowed two. Bluff has surrendered just 1.05 goals per game (a total of 21 goals) this season. That might be a crucial game for the Lady Bears, according to coach Heath Padgett, as they take on Whitewater (14-4-1) who score 4.57 goals per game on attack. As we have been all season, we will need to play excellent defense, according to Padgett. “I don’t believe they have seen our backline very often this year.”
With six shutouts, Bluff has a 13-1 record in its last 14 games and has not allowed more than two goals in any of them.
No. 6 Hillgrove (12-4-2) visits Buford (18-0-1) in a game that pits two of the top 7 offenses and two of the top 5 defenses. Hillgrove is averaging 4.55 goals per game this season, while the Lady Wolves have let up only two goals in the whole campaign.
Jefferson (17-0-1), a semifinalist in 2023, takes on fourth-ranked Northgate (15-2-2), which has surrendered just four goals this season.
This is the Lady Dragons’ greatest postseason since they advanced to the Class 4A final in 2022. For the first time ever, the Lady Dragons will host an Elite 8 round game in program history.
The Lady Tigers (13-4) will rely on an offense that has scored three goals or more in 12 of their 17 games and is 12-0 when scoring three or more goals on the season when they travel to fifth-ranked Pike County in Class 3A. Dawson County, ranked seventh, is up against this opponent.
In their last six victories, Pike County (13-4-2) has allowed only two goals while recording four shutouts. In Class A Division 2, fifth-ranked Towns County (10-2) takes on sixth-ranked Hawkinsville (9-0) in a matchup of ranked teams.
