The South Forsyth girls soccer team’s chances of winning the region championship in 6-AAAAAA are fading, but that doesn’t mean the War Eagles won’t be a dangerous team in the state tournament, which begins April 27.
South Forsyth, No. 2 in the latest EurosportScoreboard rankings, was 11-1 overall and 6-1 in the region going into Thursday night’s game against Alpharetta, allowing only five goals in 12 games.
The War Eagles have just one senior on the roster, and the younger players are making an impact. The leading scorer is freshman Nikki Bario, who has 10 goals and 14 assists. Sophomore Jenna Vollrath has nine goals and three assists, and junior Meagan Postell has five goals and eight assists. Sophomore goalkeepers Courtney O’Malley and McKenna Galioto have combined for eight shutouts.
“It has been a total team effort with strong midfield play along with consistent play in the back,” South Forsyth coach Tom Braun said. “When you play well defensively, you always have a chance to win. We pride ourselves on working hard and want a chance to win every night.”
The War Eagles’ only loss came against region rival West Forsyth, 2-1 on March 4 in a game decided by penalty kicks. West Forsyth (11-3-1 overall) can complete a perfect region season with victories against Centennial (5-9) on April 12 and Lambert (12-2) on April 15. West Forsyth also holds the tiebreaker advantage with its wins against its closest pursuers, South Forsyth and Johns Creek.
South Forsyth lost in the first round of the state tournament the past two seasons but reached the semifinals in 2013.
Coweta Cup championship
East Coweta and Northgate will face off for the championship of the annual Coweta Cup on Friday after both teams posted victories against Newnan earlier in the week. Class AAAAAA East Coweta (13-1) got two goals from Danielle Lewis and one each from Kelsey Weaver and Ellie Watson in a 4-1 victory over Newnan on Monday. Northgate, ranked No. 5 in Class AAAAA, improved to 11-3 Wednesday when it beat Newnan 1-0 on a second-half goal by Caroline Peters, according to a report by the Newnan Times-Herald. Coming into the week, Newnan had given up just three goals during its 11-1 start.
Logjam in 8-AAAAAA
Tenth-ranked Grayson, the defending state champion, created a three-way tie for first place in Region 8-AAAAA when it rallied Thursday for a 3-2 victory over No. 7 Parkview. Grayson trailed 2-0 with less than 11 minutes remaining but got goals from Ella Stevens and Brittany Montgomery to tie the game, and the Rams outscored Parkview 4-3 in penalty kicks, according to the Gwinnett Daily Post. Grayson (10-2), Parkview (9-4) and Dacula (10-3) are tied with 5-1 region records with two games remaining. Dacula lost to Parkview 2-0 on March 11 and beat Grayson 2-1 four days later. Region 8 has provided the state champion in the highest classification seven times in the past 13 years.
