FLOWERY BRANCH — The Cherokee Bluff girls soccer team continued its historic run through the 2022 state playoffs.
The Lady Bears rolled past Morgan County 7-1 on Monday in Class 3A to advance to their first-ever semifinal round.
Perhaps even bigger than that, however, was three Region 8-A girls teams, including Commerce and Towns County, advancing into the semifinals with wins on Monday.
Cherokee Bluff (17-3) came in averaging just over 7 goals/game during a 13-match win streak, which they stretched to 14 on Monday.
Kaitlin Cook, Paige Wheat, and Amelia Dovie each had two goals in a balanced attack. Anna Gessner had a goal and an assist while Genesis Gamez dished out 3 assists for the Lady Bears. Cook, Haley Wilton, and Ellie Sutulovich each had one assist for Bluff.
They will face their biggest test of the season on Thursday, however, traveling to No. 1-ranked and six-time defending Class 3A champion Westminster. The Lady Wildcats (17-1) have won 33 consecutive playoff games going back to the 2014 playoffs.
Also in Class 3A, No. 5 Lumpkin County fell to No. 6 Oconee County 2-0 in Watkinsville.
Region 8-A Public demonstrated that the Eurosports.com rankings were justified. No. 1 Social Circle, No. 2 Commerce, and No. 4 Towns County did not allow a single goal combined. Commerce walloped Claxton 10-0, Towns County held off No. 6 Academy For Classical Education (ACE) 1-0, and Social Circle smacked Matter 7-0.
Commerce (19-1) and Town County (11-4) will meet on Thursday for a shot at the championship match. Commerce routed Towns County 8-0 during the regular season.
The Class 4A fourth-ranked Jefferson girls demolished Luella, 10-0, to advance to their second Final Four since 2019. The Lady Dragons (13-3-1) next will travel to No. 3 Northwest Whitfield on Thursday in the semifinals.
Meanwhile, Class 6A No. 1 Buford was stunned by No. 7 Chattahoochee at home, 1-0, to end their 20-match win streak for their first loss (20-1) on the season.
In Class 5A, sixth-ranked Jackson County was knocked off by No. 10 Decatur, 3-2, in Hoschton to end the Lady Panthers seven-match win streak.
The unranked Union County girls in Class 2A, however, fell 4-2 to No. 8 Fitzgerald in Blairsville.
QUARTERFINAL ROUND SOCCER PLAYOFF SCORES
MONDAY, APRIL 25
Class 6A
Chattahoochee girls 1, Buford 0
Class 5A
Decatur girls 3, Jackson County 2
Class 4A
Jefferson girls 10, Luella 0
Class 3A
Cherokee Bluff girls 7, Morgan County 1
Oconee County girls 2, Lumpkin County 0
Class 2A
Fitzgerald girls 4, Union County 2
Class A Public
Towns County girls 1, Ace Charter 0
Commerce girls 10, Claxton 0
QUARTERFINAL ROUND SOCCER PLAYOFF SCHEDULE
TUESDAY, APRIL 26
Class 5A
Veterans boys (Region 1, Seed 1) at Johnson (R8, S1), 6:30 p.m.
Class 4A
East Hall boys (R8, S4) at Benedictine (R3, S1), 7 p.m.
Class 3A
East Forsyth boys (R7, S2) at Oconee County (R8, S1), 7 p.m.
Coahulla Creek boys (R6, S2) at West Hall (R7, S1), 6 p.m.
Class 2A
Coosa boys (R7, S2) at Union County (R8, S1), 6 p.m.
(Area teams listed in BOLD)
