For the second consecutive year the Chamblee Lady Bulldogs reached the Class 5A girls’ state championship game and won in convincing fashion rolling to a 9-0 victory over the Greenbrier Wolfpack at Duluth High School on Thursday night.

From the point Kara Croone hit a penalty kick following a foul on teammate Alessandra Washington with 30:30 to play in the first half there was little doubt the Lady Bulldogs would capture the 2023 title. It was a testament to first year Coach Carley Miles’ team continuing to work hard, staying humble while focusing on the goal of returning to the state title game for the second consecutive year.

Chamblee kept the ball on the offensive end for most of the first half and did not allow Greenbrier to get off a shot in the opening 40 minutes of the game while taking nine on the other end.

Six minutes after Croone gave Chamblee the lead for good Kourtney Osborne lofted a deep ball down the middle of the field as Ansley Harrison raced past the Greenbrier defense. Harrison got the ball just before the Greenbrier keeper Brianna Grover came out of the goal and slid at the point of attack only to have Harrison loft it over her into the goal to make it 2-0.

The lead expanded to 3-0 as the sister duo of Solai and Alessandra Washington teamed up for a goal at the 14:53 mark of the half. Solai moved across the field and passed to Alessandra who blasted a shot from 23 yards over the keeper’s head.

Chamblee went into the half with a commanding 4-0 lead as Solai Washington dribbled left and then snuck a hard, low shot into the right corner with 5:34 remaining.

Early in the second half Alessandra Washington was injured and Greenbrier took advantage of her absence to get off several shots but Chamblee keeper Mary Entrekin was up to the challenge coming up with three saves in a four minute span.

Chamblee got momentum back as Croone dribbled from left to right across the face of the goal and hit a perfect cross to a Solai Washington who put the ball behind the keeper to make it 5-0 with 29:52 to play.

Washington picked up her second assist three minutes later passing inside to Cameron Pfau who put the ball into the net for a 6-0 advantage.

As Chamblee began to sub, Greenbrier pressed up the field and new keeper Lauren Hill turned a pair of shots away to keep the shutout in effect.

Pfau was in the right spot at the right time as a Chamblee shot ricocheted off the right post to the senior who put it in the net for her second goal of the half at the 18:36 mark.

Greenbrier (19-1-0) got one last shot on goal (sixth of the game and half) with 17:05 as Hill turned it away again.

Solai Washington sailed up the field, weaving through defenders to pick up the hat trick with 9:32 to play to match last year’s team total in the title game of eight goals.

The junior benefitted from a glancing shot of the goalie by Gabby King for an easy goal from the backside of the play to make the final of 9-0 before exiting the game.

Chamblee finished the season for the ages 21-0-1 outscoring its opponents 145-8 along the way including 17 shutouts. Three of the eight goals came in a 6-3 win over No. 3 ranked Cambridge in the quarterfinals of the playoffs as they ran through the playoffs outscoring their opponents 37-3 (7.4-0.6 average) with four shutouts, two of which came against No. 2 ranked Midtown (3-0 in semifinals) and No. 4 Greenbrier in the title game.

The Bulldogs put together a 10-0-1 mark against ranked teams from various classifications including four in Class 5A by a margin of 23-3. They were 4-0-1 against class 6A ranked opponents by a margin of 18-4 including a tie against No. 1 Marist (2-2) and win over No. 2 Roswell (4-0) who meet in the Class 6A title game on Friday.

Chamblee also had 1-0 records versus Class 4A No. 6 ranked Starr’s Mill (4-0) and Class 7A No. 8 ranked Buford (3-0).