Lassiter’s girls soccer team, which has been No. 1 in Class AAAAAA for much of the season in the EurosportScoreboard rankings, suffered its first setback of the season when it lost to fifth-ranked West Forsyth 2-1 on March 31 before taking the next week off for spring break.
West Forsyth got goals from Kylie Gazza and April Lowthridge and improved to 11-3-1. The Wolverines can lock down the top spot in 6-AAAAAA with a victory Tuesday at Centennial and can complete a perfect region season Friday by beating Lambert, which is ranked No. 3 but took both of its losses in region play.
Lassiter, which dropped to No. 2 in the rankings, had allowed just three goals during its 12-0 start. The Trojans play a non-region match on Tuesday against Campbell and then travel to Walton on Friday for a game that will determine first place in 5-AAAAAA. Lassiter completes the regular season with a non-region game at Hillgrove on April 19.
Lassiter’s loss leaves Lakeside-DeKalb (11-0-2) as the only unbeaten team in Class AAAAAA. The Vikings have given up just one goal, which came in a 1-1 tie against Dunwoody on Feb. 16. Lakeside opened the season with a 0-0 tie against Decatur.
National rankings
Class AAAAA McIntosh (12-0) moved up five spots to No. 2 in the most recent national ranking of spring teams by USA Today and the National Soccer Coaches Association of America. The Chiefs are one of four ranked teams from Georgia and are joined in the top 20 by No. 7 Marist, No. 13 South Forsyth and No. 17 Lassiter. McIntosh is No. 1 in the Region II rankings of teams from Georgia, Alabama and South Carolina. Other Georgia teams in the top 10 are No. 2 Marist, No. 3 South Forsyth, No. 4 Lassiter, No. 7 Westminster, No. 8 Starr’s Mill and No. 9 Harrison. McIntosh, which has been off for spring break since a 1-0 victory over Whitewater on April 1, returns to action Tuesday night against Dutchtown and then meets Starr’s Mill on Friday for the top spot in Region 4-AAAAA.
Harrison preparing for postseason
Sixth-ranked Harrison has wrapped up first place in Region 4-AAAAAA, so the Hoyas continued testing themselves for the playoffs by going out of state to meet two of Alabama’s top teams. Harrison traveled to Birmingham last weekend to face Spain Park and Oak Mountain, which are ranked in the top 10 nationally by MaxPreps. The Hoyas played Spain Park (14-2-2) to a 1-1 draw on Friday before losing to Oak Mountain 3-0 on Saturday. Oak Mountain is 16-2-1 and ranked No. 2 in Alabama’s Class 7A by Eurosport. Harrison finishes its region schedule on Friday against Kennesaw Mountain and concludes the regular season on April 20 at McIntosh.
