Gwinnett County swept the Georgia High School Association’s state championships for the boys and girls AAAAAA classification.
Berkmar High captured its first boys state soccer title by upsetting defending champion Collins Hill, 2-0, at Kennesaw State. Previously, the only state titles for Berkmar had been two boys basketball championships.
Parkview, no stranger to state championship seasons, defeated Harrison, 2-1, in the girls final. The Panthers, who won 18 of their final 19 games, have now won eight state championships in the sport.
A year after Berkmar didn’t make postseason play, the Patriots put together a 16-5-1 record with a team that included a number of players who had never before played in a playoff game.
Kofi Twumasi and Awery Houry scored goals for Berkmar, one in each half.
“It’s a dream come true,” said Berkmar boys coach Tracy Crouch, who won a state championship as Parkview’s head coach in 2005.
“Every kid’s dream that plays high school soccer is the state championship. It’s the holy grail and we pulled it off.
“Our community, we take a bad rap at times, we’re kind of the other side of the tracks, if you will. I told them, ‘Tonight it’s time for the peasants to become princes.’ And that’s what happened. They deserved it. Every single bit of it.”
Collins Hills senior-laden team finished the season 17-6-0.
A Reversal Of 2012 For Parkview
In mid-April, Harrison defeated Parkview 2-1 after winning a 4-1 penalty kick shootout. The Panthers got even by hanging that identical scenario on the Hoyas in the girls state final.
Emma Carlson gave Parkview a 1-0 lead, just before halftime. Harrison equalized in the early minutes of the second half on a goal from Monica Herrera.
With the clock ticking down and the game tied, Parkview’s junior goalkeeper Mariah Garner made a critical save with 10 seconds left in regulation on a shot by Julia DuPre that forced overtime.
Sophomore Megan Wiley went in goal for the shootout for Parkview and came up with a save on Savannah Vanderbeck’s kick. From that point on the Panthers (20-3-0) were in control.
Harrison ended its season 19-2-0.
First Title For Northgate
Northgate got a pair of goals from Micayla Crenshaw and one each from Hannah Murray and Lily Barron to capture the AAAAA girls state title, at the University of West Georgia, with a 4-1 win over Whitewater.
The win snapped a streak of three straight state girls state championships by Fayette County teams in the state’s second-largest classification.
It was Northgate’s first girls soccer state title and marked the fifth straight state finals loss for Whitewater (19-3-1), a 1-0 regular season winner over the Lady Vikings.
Northgate (17-3-0) led 1-0 at the half, but after Whitewater tied the game on Taylor Marks’ goal two minutes into the second half, the Lady Vikings exploded for three unanswered goals in a 12-minute span to seal the win and the championship.
Shutout #21 For McIntosh
To say that the McIntosh boys have had a strong defense in rolling to their fourth state title AAAAA is an understatement. It was near perfect!
In a battle of the unbeatens, the Chiefs (23-0-0) defeated Houston County 2-0 in completing their 21st shutout of the season.
Salomon Lorenzano, Georgia’s Gatorade Player of the Year, got the first goal in the eighth minute of play. Cris Perez added the clincher late in the second half.
Houston (21-1-0) provided few challenges for the McIntosh defense that allowed only two goals all season long.
MacGinnitie Leads Marist Win
Marist won its eighth girls soccer title by beating Columbus 5-0 in the Class AAAA final behind a pair of goals from Katie MacGinnitie.
Senior Caroline Strom scored the game’s first goal 12 minutes into the first half. Marist outshot Columbus 19-1 and held possession nearly 75 percent of the game.
The win completed an unbeaten 22-0-1 season for Marist, who outscored the opposition 40-0 in postseason play.
“My goal for the season was to play my hardest and win state,” said MacGinnitie. “I never thought we would come this far.”
Columbus (16-6-0) reached the final game for the second consecutive season, and had reached the title game with four consecutive shutouts.
Perfect Season For Dalton
Dalton won its second boys state soccer championship with a 5-0 win over Southeast Whitfield. It was the Catamounts’ first since 2003.
It was the fourth time the two teams had met in 2013 as the Raiders fell to 13-5-1.
In the second minute of the game, Dalton took the lead on a goal by Salvador Rodriguez. Goals by Eder Mora and Ramiro Huitanda and two from Daniel Palacio followed.
“These are an amazing group of boys,” said Dalton head coach Matt Cheaves of his team. “The attitude they came with was amazing. You can have a lot of talent, but if you have bad attitudes or selfish players, it can ruin everything.”