Cartersville boys soccer wins state playoff opener

The Cartersville High School boys soccer team defeated visiting Madison County 4-1 Friday night to advance to the Sweet Sixteen round of the GHSA Class AAAA State Tournament.

Pedro Ghanem and Elian Abeja scored two goals each. John Robinson added the other Hurricanes' goal.

The Canes broke the ice in the first half and took a 1-0 lead at the intermission on an unassisted goal by Ghanem in the 35th minute. Abeja put Cartersville up 2-0 in the first five minutes of the second half with an unassisted score and Madison County narrowed the margin to 2-1 with their only goal of the night on a free kick.

Ghanem found the net for the second time and lifted the Hurricanes to a 3-1 lead in the game's 55th minute. This time scoring off an assist from Ricardo Torres.

Up 3-1, Abeja took a feed from Ghanem four minutes later to make the Canes' lead 4-1 and Robinson added his goal in the 64th minute with the assist coming from Abeja.

Cartersville took 27 shots in the game with 18 of those on frame.

"We had a great game," said Cartersville head coach D.J. Paradis after the contest. "We dominated possession and played some stout defense."

Cartersville (8-7), the 2-seed from Region 5-AAAA, will hit the road for the next round at Region 7-AAAA champion Southeast Whitfield next Thursday. The Raiders defeated Flowery Branch in the first round.