Cartersville boys soccer team advances to second round

The Cartersville boys soccer team defeated Pickens 6-1 Friday night at Weinman Stadium to advance to the second round of the Class 4A state playoffs where they will host 3rd-ranked Chestatee next Wednesday.

The Hurricanes dominated control of the ball and took charge of the game’s flow early in the first half.

Houston Read scored the opening goal for Cartersville off a cross from Jonathan Cruz in the game’s 19th minute.

A few minutes later, Grant Farmer fed Pedro Ghanem to put the Canes up 2-0 and Ghanem added another in the 36th minute for a 3-0 advantage at the intermission.

James Chege and Elian Abeja added second half goals to give Cartersville a 5-0 lead before Pickens cut the lead to 5-1.

Farmer tacked on the Canes’ final score off a Cruz assist in the game’s 76th minute to wrap up the opening round playoff win.

Pickens’ season ended with a 3-12-1 record.

Cartersville improved to 12-6.