Whitefield Academy avoids history repeating, defeats AIS to advance to state title game
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For the Whitefield Academy Wolfpack boys soccer team, their quest for a state title over the past three season had one thing in common, their playoff runs coming to an end all three seasons at hands of the Atlanta International School Eagles, who knocked the Wolfpack out in the semifinals in 2023 and 2024 as well as defeating them in the GHSA Private state championship game last season.
On Friday, the two teams faced off for the second time this season in the GHSA Private semifinals and it would be the Wolfpack finally getting over the hump with a 1-0 victory. "We've had this history of losing to AIS every year in the state playoffs and it feels good to finally beat them this year twice," Whitefield Academy senior, Parker Shim, said following Friday night's win to advance to the state championship match.
Friday's victory also marked the first time the Wolfpack picked up two wins over the Eagles in a single season, having defeated them last month, in a match which required extra time for Whitefield Academy to secure a 3-2 win. "We kind of had been talking about it all week that we didn't have much to lose," senior Cole Rabalis, who scored the Wolfpack's lone game winner, assisted by Shim, said of Whitefield Academy having the mindset of "playing like the best team in the state,".
Now with a chance to claim their first state championship since 2017, the Wolfpack will prepare for Hebron Christian, who they they faced earlier this season and won on PKs, and in order to walk away victorious, Rabalis said the Wolfpack will have to "stay focused" as they prepare. "Our game plan has been good throughout the playoffs and I feel if we can play as a team, we can dominate," Rabalis said, with Shim adding "we have to stay locked in as a team," and rely on senior leadership to set the tone.
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