Top rankings and region soccer titles for McIntosh boys, Whitewater girls

McIntosh’s varsity boys soccer team (16-1), ranked first in Class AAAA, played two games in Alabama recently and won both games.

The Chiefs defeated Prattville 4-1. Josh Ball had a hat trick, scoring two goals in the first 12 minutes, while Nate Bruhn scored off of a corner kick. Ball had two more goals in a 3-0 win over Auburn, while Matt Mateos added the third goal. They closed out the regular season with a game against Salem last night after the paper went to press. The Chiefs have captured the region title once again. They will host Clarke Central at 7 p.m. next Tuesday in the first round of the state playoffs.

Starr’s Mill’s boys (13-3-1), ranked third in Class AAAA, picked up three straight wins after their loss to McIntosh, beating fourth ranked Marist 3-1 last Tuesday, defeating Sandy Creek 4-1 last Thursday and Carrollton 4-2 last Friday before losing to Woodward Monday night 3-1. The Panthers hosted Villa Rica last night before the paper went to press.

Whitewater (9-7-1) lost to fourth ranked Lakeside-DeKalb 1-0 last Tuesday, beat Fayette County 2-0 on Friday and lost to Walton, ranked 13th in the state, 2-0 on Monday. They will close the regular season at Harrison today at 5:45 p.m. They will open the playoffs next Wednesday at Heritage after the Heritage/McIntosh girls game.

Whitewater’s girls (15-2) still have the top ranking in Class AAAA. Last week they defeated St. Pius (10th in the state) 2-0, Westminster (13th in the state) 3-1 and Fayette County 9-0 before losing to Walton (first in the state) 3-2. Erin Emerson and Taylor Marks had goals in the loss. The Lady Wildcats won the region for the first time in the history of the program this season and will host Loganville at 6 p.m. next Wednesday to open the state playoffs. They will play at Harrison today at 7:30 p.m.

Starr’s Mill’s Lady Panthers (14-2), second in Class AAAA, have won seven games in a row since their 3-0 loss to Whitewater. Last week, they defeated Sandy Creek 11-1 and beat Woodward Academy 1-0. They hosted Villa Rica last night and end the regular season against Walker, eighth in the state, at home tonight at 5:30 p.m.

McIntosh (13-4), ranked sixth in Class AAAA, got a 7-2 region win over Northgate last Tuesday and followed it with a 2-0 win over Greenbrier, Evans on Saturday. The team earned its 13th shutout of the season against Greenbrier as keepers Nikki Atkinson, Kaitlin Deitrick, defenders Brittany Schmidt, Danielle Gray, Hannah Hartman, Kaitlyn McBride, and Taylor Cook locked up the Wolfpack attack. The Lady Chiefs continued their fine form offensively as Gabby Seiler scored the game winner and assisted Michaela Johnson’s back post second goal sealing the win. Katie Cameron earned her team leading 12th assist on a free kick to set up the opener. Scoring goals against Northgate were Seiler, two goals and two assists, Emily Lecomte, two goals one assist, Cameron, Erin Pincombe and Lindsay Helton with Johnson earning two assists. The Lady Chiefs hosted Salem (fourth in AAAA) last night and will play at Heritage (fifth in AAAA) next Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. to kick off the Class AAAA state playoffs.

In Class AA/A, Landmark Christian’s bid for a perfect season was thwarted by a 1-0 loss (3-2 in penalty kicks) to Mt. Pisgah last Tuesday. The War Eagles (11-1) bounced back with an 8-1 win over St. Francis and closed out the regular season at Our Lady of Mercy last night. Landmark’s girls (8-3) beat Mt. Pisgah 8-0 and St. Francis 6-2.

Our Lady of Mercy’s girls (7-7) beat Troup 1-0 on Monday, while the boys (7-7-1) lost to Blessed Trinity (first in AA/A and ninth in the state) 3-1 last Tuesday and Henry County 2-1 last Thursday.