The second round of the GHSA soccer playoffs kick off Tuesday, April 23 and run through the end of the week. There are 11 teams from the Greater Savannah area still alive, with six girls teams and five boys squads looking to advance to the Elite Eight in their respective classifications.
Here’s a look at the second round matchups involving teams from the Greater Savannah area.
The Wildcats are coming off a 2-0 win over South Gwinnett as they continue their winning ways. Next up for the undefeated squad is a matchup with North Paulding, a 2-1 winner over East Coweta in the first round.
Sophomore Holly Kachmar racked up five goals for the Sharks and Olivia Gentner dished out a pair of assists as Islands rolled to a 7-1 win over visiting Baldwin in the first round. Kachmar leads the Sharks with 13 goals and Gentner has nine goals and nine assists.
Now the Sharks (9-6-1), the Region 3-4A champions, are set to host Whitewater in the first end of a double header, as the Islands boys squad will also take on Whitewater in a Sweet 16 matchup. Whitewater has three strong scoring threats in Ezra Oliver (15 goals) Maddison McGehee and Chloe Roberts, who have 12 goals each.
The Saints took care of business in the first round with a 6-1 win over Jackson. Now SVA hits the road to take on a Richmond Academy team that won the Region 3-4A title. SVA entered the playoff ranked No. 7 among Class 3A teams in the state by Score Atlanta and Richmond Academy is at No. 6.
MaryGrace Meyers had two goals and an assist, Abby Tvrdy netted a pair of goals for the Saints, the No. 2 seed out of Region 3-3A.
SCD rolled to a 6-0 win over visiting Upson-Lee in the first round as Harris Stone scored a pair of goals and Ella Stone netted two goals and an assist.
The Hornets, ranked No. 3 among Class 3A teams in the state by Score Atlanta, are led by Sophia Okumu, who has 16 goals. Harris Stone has 15 goals and 10 assists and Reese Bailey has 14 goals and nine assists. AC Davis is another key contributor with 12 goals and 11 assists.
The Panthers are coming off a 10-0 first round blowout over visiting Central Macon. Sophomore stat Amelia Reci scored the hat trick and added three assists in the victory and has 46 goals and 10 assists on the season. Riley Fetzner and Jordan Gunn added two goals each for the Panthers
Jeff Davis is led by Alex Arano, a star freshman, who has 25 goals and four assists on the year.
Bryan County, the No. 2 seed out of Region 3A Division I, beat Swainsboro 3-1 in the first round as sophomore Kolbie English had two goals and an assist and Haley Thomas scored a goal and assisted on another. Now Bryan County is on the road to face Lamar County, the No. 1 seed out of Region 4.
The Mustangs hosted in the first round as the No. 2 seed out of Region 2-6A and looked strong in a 7-1 win over Forest Park. Tim France scored a pair of goals, Desmond Prince had two assists and a goal, senior Edson Escobar dished out three assists and scored a goal and Tyler Quick had a goal and an assist for the Mustangs.
South Effingham gets to host a Sweet 16 matchup after Riverwood, a No. 4 seed out of Region 4-6A, upset No. 1 seed Veterans 3-2.
Islands had a dominating performance in a 5-0 first-round win over Spalding as Evan Narvaez scored a pair of goals and assisted on two others. Jack Stephans netted a pair of goals and Ryan Winters also scored for the Region 3-4A champions.
Now Islands faces a strong Whitewater squad squad that is a No. 2 seed out of Region 4-4A. Junior Eli Bannister leads the team with 25 goals and eight assists and Jackson Morgan has 16 goals and seven assists for the Wildcats.
The Cadets hosted in the first round as the No. 2 seed out of Region 3-4A and had an impressive showing with a 5-0 win over Griffin. Chris Woods scored a hat trick and had an assist and Parker Lewis and Robert Leonard added goals for the Cadets. Asher Herrin added a pair of assists.
Starr’s Mill, the Region 4-4A champion, rolled to an 11-1 win over Hardaway in the opening round.
Savannah Country Day, which entered the playoffs ranked No. 1 among Class 3A teams in Georgia by Score Atlanta, showed why with a solid showing in the first round. The Hornets beat Upson-Lee 5-0 in that game to improve to 14-0-1 on the year.
The Wolverines, a No. 1 as the Region 3A Division I champion, beat Dublin 6-2 in the first round. Senior Luis Lopez had three goals and an assist and Mikael Daniels scored a pair of goals, with freshman Chris Varner also scoring for the Wolverines. Temple had a bye in the first round.
Dennis Knight covers sports for the Savannah Morning News. Contact him at Dknight@savannahnow.com. Twitter: @DennisKnightSMN
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