Johns Creek’s frustrations end with first state championship
Ryan Gottschalk has scored a lot of goals for Johns Creek, 24 of them going into the championship game, but none sweeter or more memorable than the one he tallied on Wednesday night.
The senior, who has signed to play soccer at the Coast Guard Academy, scored midway in the first half to help send the Gladiators to a 2-0 victory over two-time defending champion River Ridge in the Class 5A final at Duluth High School.
The victory finally allowed the Gladiators, who had reached the semifinals in four of the last six seasons, to finally get over the hump and win their first state championship.
“Our school deserves this,” coach Kelly Bowler said. “We’ve been flirting with this for a while. This a memory they can keep with them forever. They can share it with their kids, their grandkids. It’s something that’s super special.”
Johns Creek (23-1) had already beaten River Ridge 3-0 during the regular season.
“I believed we would do it,” Bowler said. “The whole year I just thought we were exceptional and when we got to the playoffs and started rolling, I thought the matchup was good for us tonight, and we got it done.”
Johns Creek was the more aggressive team in the first half and missed a couple of opportunities until junior Samakh Leao passed from the left of the net to senior Gottschalk, who beat keeper Everett Bendik on the left side to break the ice at 21:51.
“We were a little frantic in that first 10-15 minutes,” Bowler said. “We made some errors we don’t normally make, but those are nerves. Once we got that goal, they kind of settled down.”
The Gladiators added a second goal with 3:23 remaining in the half when senior Aiden Giacomelli scurried around the defense to find the net. It was his 24th goal and gave Johns Creek a 2-0 lead at the half.
Johns Creek had been the dominant team all season. The Gladiators, who won the Region 7 championship, entered the championship game with an 18-game winning streak. After edging Woodward Academy 1-0 in the first round, Johns Creek has rolled, beating Habersham Central 7-0, Riverwood 7-1 and Decatur 3-0 in the semifinal.
“All my years in high school, we’ve gotten far,” said Gottschalk, who was named the MVP of the game. “This year we just built the team together. We had mostly the same players and we just kept training hard to get to this situation. We kept getting so close, so it was such a relief to finally be here and win it all.”
Senior Martin Sosa had two older brothers come through the program, but he was the once who came away with a championship.
“I have two brothers who played in the state final,” Sosa said. “They couldn’t achieve it, but we finally achieved it. We made history. This means everything to me.”
River Ridge (14-7) was trying to win its third straight championship. The Knights entered the final having won nine of their last 11 games, including a 1-0 victory over mighty Gainesville in the semifinal.
About the Author
Stan Awtrey has been covering sports for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution since 1977. He currently writes about high school sports, Georgia State University athletics and golf.
