Chamblee goalie Erin Obarowski (with ball) gobbled up a Walnut Grove shot and quickly got it out to a teammate during the Lady Bulldogs’ 5-1 win. (Photo by Mark Brock)
The Chamblee Lady Bulldogs scored four goals in the second half to come out on top of the Walnut Grove Lady Warriors 5-1 in their first round Class 5A girls’ state playoff match at North DeKalb Stadium on Tuesday night.
Chamblee (9-6-3) and Walnut Grove (9-9-0) were knotted at 1-1 at the half, but the Lady Bulldogs served notice early they were going on the attack in the second half.
Teegan Furbish slipped one past the Walnut Grove goalie with 35:49 to give the Lady Bulldogs the lead for good at 2-1. Molly Silverman got the assist with a nice touch pass on the play.
Furbish repaid Silverman’s favor with an assist to Kia Smith to make it 3-1 with 20:05 to play and Chamblee was not finished.
Silverman would get her second goal of the night on a feed from Abby Washburn less than one minute late to push the lead out to 4-1 in favor of Chamblee with 19:23 left on the clock.
Savannah Lawrence found Diya Flenaugh just to the left of the goal and Flenaugh put the ball in the net for the final of 5-1.
Chamblee’s Molly Silverman (3) had a pair of goals and an assist I Chamblee’s 5-1 win over Walnut Grove. (Photo by Mark Brock)
Chamblee got the lead early on in the game as Molly Silverman played the ricochet of Savannah Lawrence’s shot off the cross bar for a nice tap in behind the goalie for the 1-0 lead with 27:27 remaining in the first half.
Several missed opportunities by the Lady Bulldogs kept Walnut Grove in the game in the first half and Natalie Reyes made Chamblee pay for it as she put a direct kick into the goal from the left side to knot the game at 1-1 with five minutes left in the half.
Chamblee goalie Erin Obarowski got a big save with 2:16 left in the first half to keep the score tied at the break.
The Lady Bulldogs move on to face No. 2 ranked Decatur (13-5-1), which defeated East Paulding 3-0 in the opening round, in a rematch of Decatur’s 2-1 win back in February. The game is scheduled for May 1 at North DeKalb with a time to be decided at a later date.
In other DeKalb Class 5A action, all three DeKalb entries fell in their first-round games. Arabia Mountain (13-4-0) dropped a 3-1 decision to Loganville (12-5-0) at Godfrey Stadium. The Lady Rams looked in control for most of the game and were up 1-0 with 23 minutes to play, but Loganville scored three times to get the win.
Clarkston’s first girls’ playoff appearance in 20 years was short lived as they fell to Johnson-Gainesville 9-0 to finish their best season in school history at 12-5-1. Cross Keys (4-9-0) also went down to defeat with a 10-0 loss to No. 4 ranked Buford (12-4-3).
The Lakeside Lady Vikings (10-8-1) wrapped up their season falling in a hard-fought 1-0 decision on the road at No. 4 ranked North Gwinnett (14-3-0) in Class 7A girls’ state playoff action.
Stone Mountain dropped its Class 3A girls’ state playoff 10-0 on the road against No. 6 ranked Jackson County (15-2-1).
Boys’ state playoff action in Classes 7A, 5A and 3A gets underway on Wednesday with six DeKalb games on tap and three teams hosting at local stadiums.
DCSD SOCCER PLAYOFF RESULTS (FIRST ROUND)
Tuesday, April 23
Class 7A Girls
No. 4 North Gwinnett (14-3-0) 1, Lakeside (10-8-1) 0
Class 5A Girls
Johnson-Gainesville (9-8-0) 9, Clarkston (12-5-1) 0
No. 4 Buford (12-4-3) 10, Cross Keys (4-9) 0
Chamblee (9-6-3) 5, Walnut Grove (9-9-0) 1
Loganville (12-5-0) 3, No. 10 Arabia Mountain (13-4-0) 1
Class 3A Girls
No. 6 Jackson County (15-2-1) 10, Stone Mountain (3-13) 0
DCSD SOCCER PLAYOFF SCHEDULE (FIRST ROUND)
Wednesday, April 24
Class 7A Boys
Peachtree Ridge (8-8-1) vs. No. 2 Lakeside (14-1-3), 7:30 pm, Adams
Class 5A Boys
Loganville (7-8-1) vs. No. 7 Clarkston (12-4-1), Hallford, 6:00 pm
Cedar Shoals (4-9-1) vs. No. 1 Cross Keys (14-2-0), North DeKalb, 7:00 pm
Chamblee (9-8-1) at No. 8 Clarke Central (15-2-1), 7:00 pm
Arabia Mountain (7-7-1) at No. 4 Johnson-Gainesville (14-2-1), 6:30 pm
Class 3A Boys
Stone Mountain (9-6-1) at No. 7 Jefferson (14-2-0), 6:00 pm