Druid Hills keeper Wyatt Bennett pitched a shutout against Cedartown as the Red Devils moved into the Sweet 16 round of the Class 4A boys’ state playoffs with a 2-0 win over Cedartown. (Photo by Mark Brock)
The No. 7 ranked Druid Hills Red Devils picked up a road shutout against the Cedartown Bulldogs 2-0 to move into the second round of the Class 4A boys’ state soccer playoffs on Friday night.
It took almost 15 minutes for the Red Devils (12-5-1) to break through against the Bulldog (10-8-0) as they went up 1-0 on a goal by Justin Nyijak. Nyijak finished off an assist by Cristian Donato for what would be the winning goal.
The teams went to half with Druid Hills holding the 1-0 lead. Neither team could get the ball in the net for the first 39 minutes of the second half until Druid Hills’ Harding Wiedman put an unassisted goal into the net with just six seconds remaining.
The Red Devils go on the road again next Friday to Gainesville as they face off with No. 1 ranked Johnson (15-1-1). The game time will be announced at a later date.
Clarkston’s Kap Dal makes a throw in during the Angora’s tough 1-0 defeat to Northwest Whitfield in the first round of the Class 4A boys’ state soccer playoffs. (Photo by Mark Brock)
Northwest Whitfield 1, Clarkston 0
The No. 9 ranked Clarkston Angoras got tripped up 1-0 by the Northwest Whitfield Bruins on Friday night at Hallford Stadium to fall out of the Class 4A boys’ state playoffs.
The Bruins (7-7-4) got some outstanding play from keeper Nery Martinez as he had 10 saves to shutout the Angoras (15-4-0).
Northwest Whitfield broke the 0-0 tie with 29:15 left on the first half clock as a shot was deflected by Clarkston keeper Fedel Mileko only to have the Bruins’ Conner Stiles get the ball past defender and into the goal to make it 1-0.
Martinez had three saves in the last 15 minutes of the first half. Mileko made a big save with 45 seconds remaining in the half to keep the score at 1-0.
Clarkston turned up the pressure in the second half but could finish on the offensive end as Martinez turned away six shots including three with the Clarkston offensive player bearing down on the goal.
The Angoras had two big opportunities within one minute of each other, but Martinez came out to knock the shots away in the final 5:42 to preserve the win.
Southeast Whitfield 4, Druid Hills 3
A hard luck penalty in the final two minutes helped homestanding Southeast Whitfield pull out a 4-3 win over the Druid Hills Lady Red Devils in a Class 4A girls’ soccer match on Friday night.
Trailing 3-1 late in the second half, Druid Hills (10-6-2) rallied behind goals by Emily Meier (10 minutes to play) and Grace Blanchard (5 minutes remaining) to knot the match at 3-3.
Three minutes later Druid Hills was called for a penalty and Southeast Whitfield (11-3-1) converted the penalty kick to secure the victory.
Southeast Whitfield led 2-1 at the half after Druid Hills’ Emlen Cooper scored on an assist from Meier.
CLASS 2A BOYS
The Towers Titans season ended in the first round of the Class 2A boys’ state soccer playoffs with a 6-1 loss to Union County on Friday night.
Towers had to go on the road to play and finished the season 6-8-1.
DCSD STATE SOCCER PLAYOFF RESULTS
Thursday, 4/18
AWAY
CLASS 4A GIRLS
Northwest Whitfield (14-3-1) 10, Clarkston (12-7-1) 0
CLASS 2A GIRLS
Fellowship Christian (9-3-2) 14, Towers (5-8-0) 0
Friday, 4/19
CLASS 4A BOYS
HALLFORD STADIUM
Northwest Whitfield (7-7-4) 1, Clarkston (15-4-0) 0
AWAY
Druid Hills (12-5-1) 2, Cedartown (10-8-0) 0
CLASS 4A GIRLS
Southeast Whitfield (11-3-1) 4, Druid Hills (10-6-2) 3
CLASS 2A BOYS
Union County (9-2-3) 6, Towers (6-8-1) 1
DCSD STATE SOCCER PLAYOFF SCHEDULE
SECOND ROUND
Tuesday, 4/23
CLASS 5A GIRLS
NORTH DEKALB STADIUM
McIntosh (13-3-1) at Chamblee (9-6-3), 6:30 pm
ADAMS STADIUM
Northside-Columbus (11-6-1) at Tucker (12-7-1), 6:00 pm
Wednesday, 4/24
CLASS 5A BOYS
ADAMS STADIUM
Northgate (7-9-2) at Tucker (7-9-2), 7:30 pm
AWAY
Cross Keys (12-2-1) at McIntosh (19-0-0), TBA
Chamblee (8-9-1) at Eagle’s Landing (7-2-1), TBA
Friday, 4/26
CLASS 4A BOYS
Druid Hills (12-5-1) at Johnson-Gainesville (15-1-1), TBA