Tucker Moves Ahead in Boys’ Soccer State Playoffs

The Tucker Tigers won a thrilling come-from-behind 3-2 victory over the Osborne Cardinals on Wednesday at Hallford Stadium as part of a DeKalb County soccer playoff triple-header.

The Region 6-AAAAA No. 2 seeded Tigers found themselves trailing 2-1 with just over seven minutes left in the game and that is when Shadrack Nsukami stepped up to rally his team to victory.

“Osborne was a good team,” said Tucker Head Coach Tim Newmyer. “I don’t know how they were just a No. 3 seed. They got out on us and we were kind of in a daze in the first half.”

Vital Nizigiyimana crossed the ball into the box to teammate Neo Gaye with seven minutes to play. Gaye’s shot was deflected and Nsukami got the carom, shot and knotted the game with the No. 3 seeded Cardinals at 2-2.

The Tigers’ Josiah Saydee took the ball into the box with just over two minutes to play and his teammate Neo Gaye was tripped setting up Nsukami with a penalty kick. The kick found the net giving Tucker the 3-2 lead. The Tigers were able to hold off Osborne and run out the clock for the victory.

Osborne (12-4-1) was leading 1-0 in the first half when Nsukami was tripped setting up a direct kick for Saydee who drilled the shot into the net to send the game into the half at 1-1.

The No. 9 ranked Tucker Tigers (12-5-1) must go on the road on Wednesday to take on Region 5 No. 1 seed and No. 4 ranked Allatoona (17-1-0), a 2-1 winner over Cedar Shoals.

The Druid Hills Red Devils evened their record at 9-9-0 on the season by knocking off Tri-Cities (8-6-1) 2-0 in the nightcap at Hallford on Wednesday in Class AAAAAA first round playoff action.

The Red Devils advance to the second round for the first time since a run to the Class AAA quarterfinals in 2008. The win earned Druid Hills another home game in the Class AAAAAA state playoffs as North Cobb (10-6-0), a 2-0 winner over Colquitt County in the first round, travels to Hallford Stadium for a 7 p.m. game on Wednesday (May 8).

The Chamblee Bulldogs opened the triple-header at Hallford, but the results were not as good for the DeKalb Class AAAA state playoff entry as they fell to Southeast Whitfield 4-1. The Bulldogs finish the season 6-6-4 overall.

Southeast Whitfield (10-4-1), the No. 3 seed from Region 7, jumped out to a 3-0 lead, including 2-0 at the half, on the way to the 4-1 victory.

Three other DeKalb teams had their seasons come to an end on Wednesday as Stone Mountain (11-7-0) dropped a 10-0 decision to No. 1 ranked Dalton (18-0-0) in Class AAAA action while Clarkston (11-7-0) fell 4-0 to Riverwood (13-5-1) and Dunwoody (11-4-0) fell 5-2 to Pope (12-5-1) in Class AAAAA first round play.

Soccer State Playoffs Schedule
Tuesday, May 7 (tentative)
Girls
Class AAAAAA
Tift County (16-2-0) vs. Druid Hills (11-5-1), Adams, 6:30 p.m.

Class AAAAA
Allatoona (12-5-1) vs.  Lakeside (18-0-1), Hallford, 6:00 p.m.

Boys
Class AAAAA
Heritage-Conyers (14-3-2) vs. Lakeside (13-4-2), Hallford, 8:00 p.m.

Wednesday, May 8 (tentative)
Boys
Class AAAAAA
North Cobb (10-6-0) vs. Druid Hills (9-9-0), Hallford, 7 p.m.
Class AAAAA
Tucker (12-5-1) at Allatoona (17-1-0), TBA

Soccer State Playoffs Results
Wednesday, May 1
Boys
Class AAAAAA
Druid Hills (9-9-0) 2, Tri-Cities (8-6-1) 0

Class AAAAA
Tucker (12-5-1) 3, Osborne (12-4-0) 2
Riverwood (13-5-1) 4, Clarkston (11-7-0) 0
Pope (12-5-1) 5, Dunwoody (11-4-0) 2

Class AAAA
Southeast Whitfield (10-4-1) 4, Chamblee (6-6-4) 1
Dalton (18-0-0) 10, Stone Mountain (11-7-0) 0

Mark Brock is the Information Officer/Statistician/Web Manager for DeKalb County Schools Athletics