The final four in Class AA will essentially feature a region tournament between Greater Atlanta Christian, Lovett, Westminster and Wesleyan. Those four Region 6 representatives won their semifinal matches on Saturday by a combined score of 26-1. Top-ranked Greater Atlanta Christian and No. 3 Westminster scored respective 10-0 victories over East Laurens and Lamar County, Lovett edged St. Vincent’s 2-1 and Wesleyan blanked Putnam County 4-0.
Lovett had cruised past St. Vincent’s 3-0 in last year’s quarterfinals, but this time around the visiting Lions battled back from behind to survive by a one-goal margin. Freshman Sarah Stewart put the home team on top midway through the first half before Lovett answered during the second 40 minutes. Evie Johnson deflected a corner kick into the net in the 44th minute and Clara Easterlin scored on a header in 70th minute for what proved to be the game-winner. The Lions will go up against rival Westminster on Wednesday for a spot in the title match.
“We got a little lucky with our two goals and it was somewhat hard to think we deserved the win,” Lovett head coach Will Lozier told the Savannah Morning News. “But we had 29 shots to their four. It was a laborious win. Their keeper (Sydney Conrad) played out of her mind.”
Three of the four state qualifiers from Region 6-AAA advanced to the semifinals on Saturday. Decatur, a No. 4 seed, won a third consecutive road game by shutting out Pierce County 1-0. The Bulldogs will next face region foe and No. 1 St. Pius X, which routed Jackson 10-0. Blessed Trinity, a No. 2 seed and also No. 2 overall in the classification, rolled over Pike County 8-0 to set up a date with Region 8 second-seed Oconee County.
In Class AAAAAA, three of the top four teams in the state are still alive. Harrison, Grayson and Parkview are joined in the semifinals by upstart East Coweta, which took full advantage of a quarter of the draw that did not feature a single team in the top six. The Indians trailed Centennial 2-0 and also 3-2 with fewer than five minutes remaining, but they mounted a memorable charge. They scored all four of their goals in the final 22 minutes, including the clincher by Lynnsey Danford with 27 seconds left in the match. Next up for East Coweta on Wednesday is second-ranked Grayson, which took care of Kennesaw Mountain 6-1. No. 1 Harrison and No. 4 Parkview earned 4-0 victories over Brookwood and Douglas County, respectively.
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