WC kicks off state tourney next week

It's state playoff time for the White County High School soccer teams, and both squads enter the postseason fray with high expectations.

The Class AAA state kicks off next with the first round of the girl's bracket on Tuesday, April 20, while the boy's division begins play on Wednesday, April 21.

For White County, the Warriors are the Region 7-AAA champions, which means a home playoff game for the first time in program history. The Warriors finished the regular season run the region with a 6-0 record, and are 11-3 overall heading into the regular season finale tonight at Habersham Central. The Warriors are currently ranked No. 4 in the latest Class AAA state poll.

“We're excited,” said WCHS assistant coach Wayne Hurst, who coaches the squad along with Jon Leventhal, Clancy Loudermilk, and James Thomas. “The guy have continued to work hard all season, no matter what, and they have all bought into what we are trying to do. They all want to win. They This is a cliché, but when you get to the playoffs, it's one game at a time.”

As the No. 1 seed from Region 7-AAA, the Warriors will draw the No. 4 seed from Region 6-AAA. At the moment, it appears the Warriors will play Murray County in the opening round. According to MaxPress and eurosportscoreboard.com, the Indians are 7-7 this season, and finished 4-4 in the Region 6-AAA race. The Warriors and Indians share one common opponent this season in Pickens County. WCHS lost an early season game to Pickens by a 5-4 final, while Murray County lost 7-0 to Pickens in the season opener.

“We're pretty healthy, for the most part,” Hurst said. “The guys have earned this. All of the them have worked hard, every player on the team. This isn't something that just happened overnight. It's taken a lot of work to get to this point. It goes back to last year. We were playing pretty well when the pandemic hit. We were 7-2 when they called off the season.”

Thanks to winning the region title, the Warriors have the luxury of having home field advantage, not only in the opening round, but also in the second round as well, if the squad can pull off a first round win. Hurst said playing at home is a huge factor in postseason success.

“It isn't going to be easy, you expect every game to be tough in the playoffs,” Hurst said. “Getting to play at home is huge for us. Having the home field advantage is just that, it's a big advantage for us. It's a smaller field and it's grass. A lot of teams are used to playing on a bigger field and on turf. Playing on a smaller, compact field is an advantage for us.”

If the Warriors get through the opening round, they will get a chance to host the Sweet 16 game on Tuesday, April 27.

Greater Atlanta Christian, the No. 2 seed from Region 5-AAA, will take on the No. 3 seed from Region 8-AAA (East Jackson or Monroe Area) in a first round match, with the winner of that game taking on WCHS or Murray in the second round.

While the region schedule ended before spring break, the Warriors still have a little work left on the regular schedule.

On Monday, the Warriors dropped a non-region match to Class 7A West Forsyth, falling to the Wolverines by a 6-3 final. Thad Gensler had a pair of goals in the match, while Hayden Gensler scored the Warriors' other goal.

The Warriors have the regular season finale later today, traveling to Mt. Airy for a match with Class 6A Habersham Central.

Lady Warriors

While the Warriors get to start the playoffs at home, the Lady Warriors will be heading to Northwest Georgia for the opening round of the Class AAA tournament.

The top three spots in the Region 7-AAA race weren't decided until Tuesday night when Cherokee Bluff handed North Hall a 7-2 loss.

The Lady Bears' win gave the region title to the Lumpkin County, thanks to the region tiebreaker, with Cherokee Bluff finishing second and the Lady Warriors taking the No. 3 seed. In the latest Class AAA state polls, Lumpkin is No. 3, with Cherokee Bluff at No. 4, and WCHS at No. 5.

“We tied for first in the region, but got the three seed and honestly, we're all good with that,” WCHS head coach Megan Runkle said. “The three seed has been pretty lucky for us in the past.

Earlier this week, the Lady Warriors dropped a 3-0 loss to Class 7A West Forsyth. The Lady Warriors battled for 80 minutes, but couldn't crack through for a goal agains the Lady Wolverines, who are ranked No. 3 in the latest Class 7A poll.

"The West Forsyth game was meant to test us and prepare us for playoffs, and it did just that,” Runkle said. “The score may not show it, but that was our best game of the season, and that's exactly where we want to be heading into playoffs.”

According to Runkle, the 6-AAA race won't be decided until the final region games are played Friday night, but she expects the  Lady Warriors will travel to Ringgold for a first round matchup.

That could change depending on the outcome between Adairsville and Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe. Regardless of the first round opponent, Runkle is excited about the playoffs.

“We're ready for playoffs,” Runkle said. “Usually at this point in the season, you're worried about burnout or plateauing skill wise, but there is a great energy on the team right now and the girls have found a way to continue elevating their game.”

If the Lady Warriors get the road win next Tuesday, they will move onto the Sweet 16, and should play  No. 2 Oconee County, the Region 8-AAA champion on Friday, April 26, in Watkinsville.

It's a tough bracket but if the girls play the way the did against West Forsyth, we're going to make a good run,” Runkle said. “Our postseason goal is simple - Make history.”

WCHS finishes up the regular season with trip to Habersham Central today, taking on the Lady Raiders at 5:30 p.m in Mt. Airy.