Northeast Georgia area soccer fans will have plenty of big matchups to choose from when the second round of the GHSA playoffs gets underway Wednesday.
None, however, will be bigger than the titanic showdown between the No. 3 Gainesville boys and defending Class 6A state champion Chattahoochee on Thursday at City Park Stadium. The Red Elephants are coming off a blowout win over Douglas County (7-0) while the Cougars survived a 1-0 nail-biter over Osborne in the first round.
Both Jefferson teams will be involved in big showdowns as well in Class 3A. The No. 7 Lady Dragons will travel to No. 2 Dawson County while the No. 6 Jefferson boys will play host to No. 4 East Hall in a pair of top-10 battles.
In Class 4A, the sixth-ranked Chestatee boys will play host to No. 8 Oconee County. The War Eagles are looking for a return trip to the state championship match but are just 2-2-1 in their last five matches overall. The second-ranked Flowery Branch girls will play host to No. 6 North Oconee with both teams riding long unbeaten streaks. The Lady Falcons have gone 13 matches without a loss (12-0-1) while the Lady Titans are 7-0-1 in their last eight overall.
In all, 17 northeast Georgia area teams, boys and girls combined, advanced to the second round.
(Check below for the complete second round schedule.)
GHSA Soccer playoffs, second round
WEDNESDAY'S SCHEDULE (May 1)
(Area teams in bold)
Class 5A
Johnson girls (Region 8, Seed 2) at Carrollton (Region 7, Seed 1), 5:30 p.m.
Riverwood (R6, S3) at Buford girls (R8, S1), 6 p.m.
Class 4A
North Oconee (R8, S2) at Flowery Branch girls (R7, S1), 6:30 p.m.
Class 3A
Greater Atlanta Christian (R7, S2) at Jackson County girls (R8, S1), 6 p.m.
Jefferson girls (R8, S2) at Dawson County (R7, S1), 5:30 p.m.
Lumpkin County girls (R7, S3) at Westminster (R5, S1), 7:30 p.m.
Class 2A
Gordon Central (R7, S2) at Union County girls (R8, S1), 6 p.m.
Class A Private
Holy Innocents' (R7, S2) at Lakeview Academy girls (R3, S2), 6:30 p.m.*
Class A Public
AE Charter (R2, S2) at Towns County girls (R8, S1), 5 p.m.
THURSDAY'S SCHEDULE (May 2)
Class 6A
Chattahoochee (R7, S2) at Gainesville boys (R8, S1), 7:30 p.m.
Habersham Central boys (R8, S2) at Pope (R7, S1), 7:30 p.m.
Class 5A
Villa Rica (R7, S2) at Johnson boys (R8, S1), 7 p.m.
Class 4A
Oconee County (R8, S2) at Chestatee boys (R7, S1), 6:30 p.m.
Class 3A
East Hall boys (R7, S2) at Jefferson (R8, S1), 6:30 p.m.
Class 2A
Union County boys (R8, S4) at Gordon Central (R7, S3), 6 p.m.
http://accesswdun.com/article/2019/4/789080/playoff-soccer-preview-2nd-round