Carroll County girls soccer squads set for regional playoffs
The opening round of the postseason is set for Oct. 26
The regional playoffs for girls soccer are set to begin this week, so let's see which Carroll County teams play when and find out their opponents as the chase for a state championship gets underway.
Let's start with Class 3A East, where the lone intra-county matchup takes place. Westminster (9-5) hosts Manchester Valley (6-4-2) in a Region 1 quarterfinal on Oct. 26 at 6 p.m.
The Owls hosted the Mavericks on Sept. 27, and Man Valley came away with a 2-1 win. Westminster finished 4-2 in the Carroll County Athletic League standings, good for second place, while the Mavs posted a 3-2-1 county mark. Ella Boussy paces Westminster's offense with 22 points (9 goals, 4 assists), while Casey Meredith has 16 (5 goals, 6 assists) for Manchester Valley.
The winner advances to face Mount Hebron, the No. 2 seed in 3A East Region 1, in the next round set for Oct. 28.
In 2A West, it's No. 3 Liberty (8-6) hosting No. 6 Northeast on Oct. 26 in a Region 1 quarterfinal. The Lions also went 4-2 in county play, but lost to Westminster and therefore fell to third in the standings.
Liberty bounced back from a 6-1 defeat against Century by beating South Carroll and Bel Air before losing in overtime to Marriotts Ridge to close out the regular season. Hannah DeVincent leads the Lions in scoring with 28 points on 9 goals and 10 assists. Madi Rytina is next with 23 points (10 goals, 3 assists).
Winters Mill is the No. 5 seed in the region and the Falcons travel to No. 4 Southern-Anne Arundel on Oct. 26. The Falcons are led by Gracee Weinrich (14 goals, 32 points) and Kiyomi Mastro (12 assists, 28 points).
Carroll County champion Century (10-3) gets a bye in the opening round and the Knights will get the Winters Mill-Southern winner in the second round Oct. 28. Century has Harli Hamlett with 22 points (10 goals, 2 assists) and Bella Coccio with 16 (5 goals, 6 assists).
South Carroll and Francis Scott Key are in 1A North Region 1. The Cavaliers (5-5-2) are the No. 3 seed and host No. 6 Chesapeake Science Point on Oct. 26, while the No. 4 Eagles (3-9) get No. 5 Pikesville on the same night.
Abby Reiger leads the way for FSK with 21 points (8 goals, 5 assists) and Lana O'Donnell has 13 (5 goals, 3 assists). Meanwhile, Addyson Davis paces the Cavaliers with 17 points (5 goals, 7 assists).
If Francis Scott Key advances, No. 1 seed Loch Raven awaits in the next round. And for SC, a win means a trip to No. 2 Western Tech in the regional semifinals.
CMSportsNet will be there for the Man Valley vs. Westminster game on Oct. 26 to follow the action and put together highlights, as well as interview a player or coach after the match. Before that, here's the most recent girls game we attended -- Century vs. Westminster on Oct. 17, which led to the Knights capturing a fourth straight Carroll County title.