Druid Hills’ Ehpaw Etoo (7) moves up field against a Pace defender during the Red Devils’ thrilling 2-1 victory. (Photo by Mark Brock)
The No. 7 ranked Druid Hills Red Devils rallied from a 1-0 deficit to knock off Pace Academy 2-1 in a physical thriller in the first round of the Class 4A boys’ state soccer playoffs at Adams Stadium on Friday night.
Pace Academy9 (7-4-5) controlled most of the first half getting off 9 shots and taking a 1-0 lead off a header on a throw in with 6:22 remaining.
Druid Hills (13-5-1) goalkeeper Alex Garcia-Perez kept the Red Devils in the game with six first half saves that gave his teammates time to tie the game before the half.
Ephaw Htoo did just that with 3:51 left in the first half as he blew past a defender and drilled a shot into the net to knot the game at 1-1. The game remained tied going into halftime.
The second half was moving along as the two teams jockeyed for scoring opportunities with Druid Hills just missing at the 37:01 mark and 26:58 mark as the Pace keeper came up with some key saves.
As the clock ticked down under 20 minutes, Druid Hills Harding Weidman got past the defense and found an opening to blast shot into he goal for a 2-1 Red Devils lead with 19:37 remaining in the game.
Garcia-Perez came up big just 17 seconds later knocking away a shot to keep the margin at 2-1 in favor of Druid Hills. He then had to go out of the game for a minute following a collision with a Pace attacker at the 11:30 mark. He returned at the 10:14 tick of the clock and promptly picked up his final save of the game with 9:10 to play.
Pace’s keeper kept the margin at 2-1 with a big save with 7:35 to play.
The Red Devils will entertain North Oconee (9-6-0), a 3-2 winner over No. 6 Northwest Whitfield (9-6-2) in a overtime shootout, to knockout the No. 1 seeded team to advance. The game is set for Adams Stadium next Thursday with a time to be announced.
Towers’ Abriel Gallegos (16) moves up field against Pace’s Wes Hollis (20) for his teams only goal in a 6-1 loss in the first round of the Class 2A state playoffs. (Photo by Mark Brock)
CLASS 3A BOYS
Mt. Paran 6, Towers 1
The Towers Titans were looking for their first playoff win in school history but fell 6-1 to Mt. Paran Christian at Avondale Stadium on Friday night in the first round of the Class 2A state playoffs.
Sam McMurry put Mt. Paran (8-7-0) up 1-0 with 37:05 left in the first half and the Eagles would never trail in the game.
Gabe Lott got the first of his two goals in a four minute span putting the first in the net at the 27:42 mark to make it 2-0.
Towers answered as Abriel Gallegos put one in from 20 yards out to pull Towers back within one at 2-1 with 26:58 left in the first half.
Lott answered just over three minutes later to make it 3-1
Towers changed keepers at that point and Edilson Larumbe took over and promptly made three saves in the remaining 23 minutes of the half to keep Towers (10-3-1) within 2-1 at the break.
Jacob Brackman extended the lead to 4-1 with 33:57 to play as he converted a penalty kick following a foul in the box.
Mt. Paran would add two more goals in the final 15 minutes to make the final of 6-1.
CLASS 6A BOYS
Dunwoody 4, Forest Park 0
Will Lamb had two assists and a goal to lead the Dunwoody Wildcats to a 4-0 Class 6A boys’ state tournament victory over the No. 2 seeded Forest Park Panthers at Forest Park on Friday night.
Lamb’s corner kick headed in by Rhys Pollard put Dunwoody up 1-0 in the first half.
The Wildcats (10-8-1) would add three more goals in the second half, the first coming via an assistant from Shama Shasha to aid Mario Hernandez’s shot into the goal to make it 2-0.
Lamb got his second assist of the night as he pass to Miles Scharf to push the advantage to 3-1.
A handball in the box set up a penalty kick by Lamb who converted for the final score of 4-0.
Dunwoody goes on the road in the second round of the Class 6A playoffs taking on Glynn Academy (18-1-0), a 3-0 winner over Lee County (7-7-2), on Friday night. The teams will clash at Glynn Academy next Thursday with a time to be announced.
Lakeside 3, Woodward 1
The Lakeside Vikings scored all three goals in the final 25 minutes on the way to a 3-1 victory over the homestanding Woodward War Eagles in their Class 6A first round playoff match on Friday night.
Mauricio Garcia scored two of Lakeside’s big second half goals and Brayan Zetina put in a third as the Vikings clinched a berth in the second round.
Lakeside (7-8-3) travels to South Effingham (14-3-1), a 2-1 winner over Thomas County Central (9-6-1), on Thursday night with a time to be announced.
DCSD STATE SOCCER PLAYOFFS SCHEDULE
Friday, 4/14
CLASS 6A BOYS
AWAY
Dunwoody (10-8-1) 4, Forest Park (11-4-2) 0
Lakeside (7-8-3) 3, Woodward Academy (8-6-1) 1
CLASS 4A BOYS
ADAMS STADIUM
No. 7 Druid Hills (13-5-1) 2, Pace Academy (7-4-5) 1
CLASS 2A BOYS
AVONDALE STADIUM
Mt. Paran Christian (8-7-0) 6, Towers (10-3-1) 1
Monday, 4/17
CLASS 5A GIRLS SECOND ROUND
NORTH DEKALB STADIUM
Ola (9-4-2) vs. No. 1 Chamblee (17-0-1), 6:00 pm
Tuesday, 4/18
CLASS 5A BOYS SECOND ROUND
ADAMS STADIUM
Bradwell Institute (12-4-2) vs. No. 7 Tucker (11-4-4), 6:00 pm
AWAY
Chamblee (6-8-2) at No. 4 Greenbrier (15-2-0), 5:00 pm
Thursday, 4/20
CLASS 4A BOYS SECOND ROUND
AWAY
Clarkston (13-4-2) at East Hall (13-3-0), TBA
ADAMS STADIUM
North Oconee () vs. No. 7 Druid Hills (13-5-1), TBA
CLASS 6A BOYS
Dunwoody (10-8-1) at Glynn Academy (18-1-0), TBA
Lakeside (7-8-3) at South Effingham (), TBA