By John Breech

After a week of sun and fun thanks to spring break, area soccer teams will be headed back into action tomorrow to kick off the final week of the regular season. With that in mind The Beacon is here to preview what teams have a playoff spot locked up and who still has some last minute homework to hand in.

IN
These teams can slap on some aloe vera and let the spring break sunburn heal this week because win, lose or forfeit, they already have their postseason ticket punched.

Class A/AA Girls

Blessed Trinity: The Lady Titans were the three time defending champs at the AAA level when the GHSA booted the school down to AA. So far BT hasn’t missed a beat, and why should they? The three state titles mean that every single non-rookie on the Titan roster has a championship to their name. The team only lost two starters from last year’s title winning team and the current senior class consists of starlets like Katie Lyon and UGA signee Christina Kyker who would both love to add to their three ring collection. Final game: 4/14 vs. Galloway.

Fellowship Christian: The FCS girls team locked up a playoff berth just before spring break with a thrilling 2-1 penalty kick win over Galloway. With this past year’s reclassification, the Lady Paladins found themselves in the same region as three time defending champion Blessed Trinity. Because A and AA are combined, only two teams make the tournament out of each region, unlike AAA and up, where four teams qualify. Now that BT was in their realigned region, FCS had no margin for error. With that in mind, the Lady Paladins did exactly what they were suppose to do, they fell to BT twice, both of which were one goal losses, and they swept the rest of their region games enabling them to qualify for the postseason for the first time since FCS joined the GHSA. Sarah Stainback and Emily Sonnett have played key parts in the Lady Paladins run to the post season. Final game: 4/14 at Pace

Class AAAAA Girls

Alpharetta: The Lady Raiders are postseason bound for the first time in school history and they’ve done it through old-fashioned domination. Goalie Jenny Bilko and Appalachian State bound defender Brooke Davidson have propped up a stingy defense that’s put together five shutouts on the season. The Lady Raiders have completed their regular season schedule and locked up region 6’s number three seed. The girls will be back in action on April 21 in the first round of the state playoffs. Their opponent from region 5 is likely to be a Kennesaw Mountain team that has already lost to Lassiter this season, a team that Alpharetta beat. 

Milton:  At the AAAAA level, the Lady Eagles have unquestionably had the most successful run in North Fulton on the soccer field over the last five years. Since 2004, Milton has two state final four appearances to their credit to go along with last season’s second round appearance. Behind strong play from seniors Jessica Ovington, Maria Palumbo and Jackie Sherman, the Eagles have wrapped up the fourth seed in region 6. Unfortunately the fourth place finish means Milton will most likely open up state tournament play with state number two Harrison. Final games: 4/13 at Collins Hill 4/14 vs. Wheeler.

Class AAAAA Boys

Centennial: After last year’s implausible, heartbreaking, gut wrenching loss to East Coweta in the state quarterfinals, everyone on the Knight roster was itching to get back to the state tournament this season. Mission accomplished. Centennial has run the table in region 6 so far with a perfect 7-0 record and the only two blemishes on the Knights’ overall record are consecutive losses the team suffered back in February. Centennial is currently riding an 11-game winning streak in which they have shut out 10 of their opponents and outscored them 41-2. The Knights currently sit second in the region, but that will change this week as they finish the season with the region’s number one and number three teams, Walton and Lassiter. Final games:  4/14 vs. Lassiter, 4/16 vs. Walton.
 
Almost In
These teams are one win away from a postseason dinner date with destiny.

Class A/AA Boys

Blessed Trinity: After four straight seasons of qualifying for the state playoffs at the AAA level, it only seemed natural that the Titans would take over AA also. For the most part they have, as BT has already registered a victory over state AA/A number three Greater Atlanta Christian. However, a late season upset loss to Fellowship Christian means BT needs to win one of their last two games to lock up a postseason spot. The Titans can also qualify if any team behind them in the standings (not named Fellowship Christian) loses a game this week. Final games: 4/14 vs. Galloway 4/16 at Pace.

Class AAAAA Boys

Roswell: The high-flying Hornets are only one win away from ending a three-year playoff drought. Roswell is tied with Pope at 5-3 for the pivotal fourth spot in region 6; remember, fifth place is the first loser. As fate would have it, the two teams will tango Tuesday night at Roswell for the right to represent region 6 in the state tournament. The Greyhounds are 14-3 on the season and have outscored their opponents by 54 goals, Roswell, on the other hand, is 8-6 and has only outscored their opponents by 13. Roswell better not expect any sympathy from Pope because the Greyhounds will be trying to end a four-year drought of their own. Final game: 4/14 vs. Pope

Chattahoochee: The Cougars were the undisputed number one team in the state for most of last season. However, Hooch was upset in the second round of the state playoffs by eventual finalist Collins Hill. This season, the Cougars have several stellar seniors on their roster like Connor Coons, Luke Onsgard, Alex Crooks and Moosa Dowlatabadi. However, the experience that the upper classmen offer hasn’t been enough to earn a playoff spot for the Cougars just yet. If Hooch takes down Norcross Tuesday night, it will go a long way toward helping the Cougars unclog a four-way tie for the last two postseason spots in region 7. However, if they lose, they may find winning any tiebreakers rather difficult since the other three teams (Norcross, Northview, Peachtree Ridge) would all have wins against the Cougars.