The No. 1 ranked Chamblee Lady Bulldogs upped the pressure in the final 38:40 of the game to pull away from No. 3 ranked Cambridge for a 6-3 victory in Milton on Monday night to earn a trip to the Class 5A girls’ soccer playoffs Final Four.

Cambridge (12-2-1) had knotted the game at 2-2 just 1:20 into the second half on a Jordyn Dudley goal which got Chamblee into attack mode.

Six minutes later a penalty in the box on Cambridge put Kara Croone up for the penalty kick. Croone nailed the left corner to give Chamblee the lead for good at 3-2 with 32:34 to play.

It would open the door for three more goals for the Lady Bulldogs (19-0-1). Ansley Harrison upped the lead to 4-2 with 29:38 to play as a corner kick from Alessandra Washington was headed and Harrison knocked the loose ball past the Cambridge keeper.

Washington got another corner kick opportunity with 17:37 to play with a similar result. A header attempt fell to the ground and Cameron Pfau put the ball into the net to make it 5-2.

Alessandra Washington was on the receiving end of a pass from sister Solai Washington about 20 yards out front and she blasted the ball just to the left and out of the reach of the keeper to make it 6-2 with 12:51 to play.

Meanwhile Chamblee keeper Mary Entrekin made five saves during the run including one straight on and punching out two corner kicks to keep the Lady Bulldogs in control. She finished with nine saves on the night against 16 shots by the home team.

Cambridge picked up a late garbage goal with 12.9 seconds to play on a penalty in the box which Dudley converted for the final of 6-3.

Chamblee had jumped up 2-0 in the first half on a Kara Croone goal from a cross off the foot of Kyla Osborne with 21:22 and a Solai Washington run past three defenders for a goal with 5:19 remaining in the first half.

Aurora Gaines got loose behind the Chamblee defense with 4:34 to play in the half to close the gap to 2-1 going into the break.

Chamblee moves on to the Final Four on Thursday (April 27) and hosts No. 2 Midtown (19-1-0) in a rematch of the state title game from a year ago which the Lady Bulldogs won 8-1, but later had to vacate due to a reported rules violation. The game is set for North DeKalb Stadium with a time yet to be determined.

Boys’ state playoff action resumes on Tuesday with Chamblee (7-8-2) traveling to Dalton to face the No. 2 ranked Catamounts at 6:30 pm in the Class 5A boys’ quarterfinals and Lakeside (8-8-3) hits the road to No. 4 ranked Blessed Trinity (16-3-0) at 7:00 pm.

DCSD STATE SOCCER PLAYOFFS SCHEDULE
Monday, 4/24
CLASS 5A GIRLS QUARTERFINALS
No. 1 Chamblee (19-0-1) 6, No. 3 Cambridge (12-2-1) 3

DCSD STATE SOCCER PLAYOFFS SCHEDULE
Tuesday, 4/25
CLASS 5A BOYS QUARTERFINALS
Chamblee (7-8-2) at No. 2 Dalton (17-2), 6:30 pm

CLASS 6A BOYS QUARTERFINALS
Lakeside (8-8-3) at No. 4 Blessed Trinity (16-3-0), 7:00 pm

Thursday, 4/27
CLASS 5A GIRLS SEMIFINALS
NORTH DEKALB STADIUM
Midtown (19-1-0) vs. Chamblee (19-0-1), TBA