Cass boys' soccer team advances to the Class 5A Final Four

May 1, 2024

The Cass boys’ soccer team defeated the Tucker Tigers 3-2 Tuesday night at Adams Memorial Stadium in Atlanta to advance to the GHSA Class 5A Final Four.

Tucker, the Region 4-5A champions, opened the scoring in the 20th minute by converting a penalty kick but the Colonels responded quickly.

Cass evened the score in the 27th minute on a goal by Christian Villela from Edgar Abeja.

Five minutes later, the Colonels took the lead on an unassisted goal by Melvin Velasquez and carried that 2-1 advantage to the intermission.

The two teams traded chances in the second half until the Colonels’ JJ Grimaldo made it 3-1 in the 63rd minute with the assist coming from Mason Madrid.

The Tigers (8-11-2) scored with seven minutes remaining for a 3-2 final.

Cass goalkeeper Saul Villela had seven saves in the quarterfinal victory.

“It was a great team win,” said Cass head coach Justin Fitzgerald. “We received a red card with about 30 minutes remaining and had to go the rest of the way with only 10 players. The players adjusted positions and did a great job finding a way to get it done.”

Cass (15-3-1) will host the state semifinal match at Cochran Stadium on Friday night. The Colonels, champions of Region 7-5A, get the home pitch advantage and will host the Decatur Bulldogs (Time TBA). Decatur (14-5-3) has state playoff wins over Greenbrier, Harris County, and Chattahoochee in the first three rounds.

The other state semifinal will be Midtown (12-6) at McIntosh (21-0).

Friday’s state semifinal winners will play on Thursday, May 9 for the Class 5A state championship at 7:30 p.m. at Duluth High School.