Thirty-two of the best soccer teams in the state will make the trek to one of three locations to achieve greatness as the GHSA soccer season ends Tuesday to Friday.
Each determined squad will attempt to etch their names into program and GHSA history and more than a few have done it before, while others are seeking their first-ever state soccer championships in new-look classifications.
McEachern in Powder Springs, Duluth and Mercer University in Macon will be the sites to bear witness of the culmination of a season-long race to the finals.
LET’S RUN IT BACK
The champions who are trying to defend have spent the season yearning for this moment and a chance to add another chapter to their program’s history.
On the boys side, River Ridge won the Class 6A title last season and returns, now in Class 5A, trying for its second-ever title. Westminster’s boys have won 15 previous championships including the Class 4A title last season and have the prowess for a 16th trophy.
On the girls side, Marist won last year’s Class 6A title – the team’s 12th — and will try for the Class 4A crown this season. In Class 3A, Oconee County are trying for the team’s third-straight and third-overall championship. Greater Atlanta Christian was in Class 5A last season, where it won the team’s fourth championship, and is now competing for the title in Class 1A-3A Private.
WE ARE GOING TO NEED A BIGGER CASE
Many of the teams making the trek to the title match have championship-winning experience in the school’s history and some enter with recent memories of late-season success. While other teams are drawing on the lore of a program’s long-lost championship season.
On the boys side, Grayson (6A) has a tied championship in 2004 alongside Richmond Academy for the Rams’ lone title and now wants their second. Marist (4A) is trying for its third title after winning in 2006 and 2009. Johnson-Gainesville (3A) has three titles – 2018, 2022 and 2023 – and will try for a fourth after falling in the Class 4A finals last season, 2-0 to Westminster. Northwest Whitfield (3A) has one title, 2018. Thomasville (A-Division I) previously won titles in 2010 and 2019. Whitefield Academy (1A-3A Private) won the Class A title in 2017, it’s only championship.
For the girls, Walton (6A) has one title from 1993, the second year that GHSA girls soccer was a sanctioned sport and considered an ‘open event’. Roswell (5A) is trying for its second title after winning in 2023. Northgate (5A) will try for its second title and first since 2013. Blessed Trinity (4A) has six titles – 2004, 2006 (tie), 2007, 2008, 2011 and 2021. Atlanta Classical (A-Division II) wants its second title, its first coming in 2021.
HUNGRY FOR SOME HARDWARE
Several programs will try for their first-ever title and on the boys side, Campbell (6A), Sprayberry (5A), Shaw (2A), Drew Charter (2A) Armuchee (A-Division I), Atkinson County (A-Division II) and Lake Oconee Academy (1A-3A Private) are seeking first-ever championships. On the girls side, Buford (6A), Jefferson (3A), Pike County (2A), Savannah Arts (2A), Bremen (A-Division I), Model (A-Division I) and Lake Oconee Academy (1A-3A Private) have never won a title.
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