High school soccer playoffs: Dalton moves on with win over Kell; Dalton Academy shocked by trio of late goals

Published 9:00 pm Wednesday, April 17, 2024

Dalton 2, Kell 1

Dalton (14-4-1) began the march toward a possible eighth state championship with a 2-1 first-round win over Kell (12-4-1) in the Class 5A playoffs on Wednesday.

Dalton advances to the second round, where the Catamounts will travel to play Clarke Central on Wednesday.

All of the game’s scoring came in the first half.

Diego Paez put Dalton up 1-0, then Romeo Chavarria made it 2-0 with four minutes in the first.

Kell got a goal in just before the halftime horn, scoring with seven seconds left.

Clarke Central, the Region 8-5A champion, beat Lithia Springs 5-0 in the first round.

Whitefield Academy 3, Dalton Academy 2

After leading 2-0 with just seven minutes left in a first round game Wednesday in the Class A DI playoffs, Dalton Academy was shocked by three late goals scored by Whitefield Academy.

The Pumas season was ended with a 3-2 loss.

Whitefield scored their first goal of the game with 6:48 left, tied it a few minutes later, then put in the game-winning goal with just 1:54 to go.

Dalton Academy came in at 14-2-1 and hadn’t lost to a school smaller than Class 4A all year. The Pumas were region champions and a top seed. Whitefield, despite being a fourth-seed, was 14-3-1 and came out of a tough region of Atlanta-area teams.

Coahulla Creek also played in the high school soccer playoffs Wednesday. For a full story from that game, click here.