Gwinnett Daily Post

JOHNS CREEK -- Northview continued its solid postseason play and moved into the semifinals of the Class AAAAA girls soccer playoffs with a 2-0 win over Brookwood Friday night at Northview Stadium.

Northview (12-6-1), which had finished the last six regular season games with a 1-4-1 mark, won for the third time in the playoffs and will play the winner of today's Mill Creek-Harrison matchup next Wednesday.

Brookwood concludes its season at 12-7 following three straight road playoff games, including a Wednesday night trip to Tift County when the Broncos won 5-0.

"The girls played with such heart," said Brookwood head coach Sarah Crawford. "I don't think playing three road games hurt us. We recovered yesterday and had a good day of preparation yesterday and it's a little tough traveling with finals coming up. But our girls play three games in a weekend in club (soccer), so I don't think the quick turnaround played a factor. (Northview) just played a good game and we came up a little short."

Northview jumped on top when Chrysa Zacharopoulos took a nice pass from Avery Sather and beat Brookwood goalkeeper Taylor Strickland for a 1-0 lead.

Brookwood had blanked its last four opponents with the last goal allowed coming in a 2-1 win over East Coweta on April 17.

Northview kept the offensive pressure on and finished with five total shots in the first half, including three on goal

Brookwood also had its share of scoring chances in the opening half with four total shots, including a pair of early shots on goal by Fiorella Gamarra.

But Northview goalkeeper Taylor Erickson turned away the three Brookwood shots on goal to preserve the Titans' one-goal lead at the half.

Northview increased its lead to 2-0 in the second half when Sather recovered a rebound of her first shot after Strickland couldn't control and scored with 21:32 left in the game.

Brookwood showed a stronger offensive presence in the second half, but the scoring chances came up empty.

One of those came with 6:30 to go in the game, but Gamarra's shot hit the right goal post to keep the Northview advantage at 2-0.

Brookwood finished with 12 total shots, including six on goal. Northview finished with eight shots total, including six on goal.

"(Northview) played with a lot of intensity and the work rate was exceptionally high," said Crawford.

"They won just about every header. They had some amazing players up top and in the midfield. We knew that, but they just outworked us early. But then we came out and created a lot of opportunities in the second half, but just couldn't finish."