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Soccer

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History

Lakeside's 2008 Class AAAA state title victory gives the Vikings seven of the 16 state titles owned by DeKalb County.

Lakeside’s 2008 Class AAAA state title victory gives the Vikings seven of the 16 state titles owned by DeKalb County.

DeKalb County Schools joined the Georgia High School Associations’ soccer championships in 1968 and promptly made a statement winning seven out of the next 8 state titles on the way to the current total of 16 boys’ state championships.

Briarcliff won the first boys’ state title in the county’s opening season in the GHSA sponsored championships in 1968. DeKalb missed out in 1969, but won titles every year from 1970 thru 1975 to prove a dominant force in soccer. Briarcliff added two more (1971, 1972) during this span to round out its three state titles while Lakeside also picked up three championship trophies (1970, 1974, 1975) in the run. Peachtree captured its only state title in 1973 to help complete the seven year run for DeKalb.

Another run of consecutive titles for the county came in 1978 to 1981. Lakeside won in 1978 and 1981 to sandwich two state titles by Southwest DeKalb in 1979 and 1980.

It would be eight years before DeKalb would bring home another title with Redan capturing the prized trophy in 1988. Henderson won its lone title in 1991 and Lakeside picked up its seventh in 1997.

Chamblee won its first state title (Class AAA) in 2008 giving DeKalb a double-dip in state titles that year.

Chamblee won its first state title (Class AAA) in 2008 giving DeKalb a double-dip in state titles that year.

The 2008 season was the first time two schools won titles in the same season as Lakeside won the class AAAA title 1-0 (3-1 PKs) over Southeast Whitfield and Chamblee won its first title with a 2-1 victory over Westminster. It was also the first state titles in 11 years for the district.

The county teams have had three of the final four in the state championships five times in the 47-year history of the state sponsored championships. The 1988 season was the most amazing of the time period as four DeKalb teams made the final four. Redan defeated Druid Hills for the title while Clarkston claimed third and Shamrock fourth.

Lakeside leads the country in state playoff victories with a 60-27-1 record followed by Druid Hills at 32-23, Redan at 21-17-1, Clarkston at 20-14-1 and Chamblee at 18-11.

State Titles (16)

  • Lakeside (7) – 1970, 1974, 1975, 1978, 1981, 1997, 2008
  • Briarcliff (3) – 1968, 1971, 1972
  • Southwest DeKalb (2) – 1979, 1980
  • Chamblee (1) – 2008
  • Henderson (1) – 1991
  • Peachtree (1) – 1973
  • Redan (1) – 1988

History

Girls’ soccer started in 1982 in DeKalb County and a county championship was held from 1982 to 1987.

Stone Mountain dominated the tournament from 1985-87 winning three consecutive titles while going undefeated. Chamblee, Peachtree and Lakeside won the first three tournaments.

The first Girls’ Metro Atlanta Tournament was held in 1988 and was held until the state began sponsoring the state tournament in 1993. Henderson won the first ever Girls Metro Championship in 1988 by defeating fellow DeKalb rival Stone Mountain 2-1 giving the Lady Pirates their first loss in four years. Lakeside finished third as three DeKalb teams made the final four. This was considered the unofficial girls’ state championship at the time.

The 1993 state tournament had four DeKalb teams in the inaugural event in Lakeside, Stone Mountain, Tucker and Dunwoody. The Lakeside Lady Vikings shut out Lovett and Brookwood in the opening two rounds of the tournament before dropping a 2-1 decision to Pace Academy in the semifinals.

Stone Mountain reached the 1994 state semifinals where a 1-0 loss to Fayette County on a goal with just 1:50 remaining overtime ended the Lady Pirates’ season.

The Lady Vikings reached the only finals in the history of DeKalb in 1997 dropping a 1-0 decision to Marist in the Class AAA title game. The goal to Marist was the only goal allowed by Lakeside in its run to the finals which included shutouts of Tucker (3-0), North Hall (4-0) and Sandy Creek (2-0).

Lakeside would return to the semifinals in 1998 with wins of 12-0 over Eastside and 1-0 in overtime against North Gwinnett before losing a heartbreaking 2-1 overtime game to Starr’s Mill.

Lakeside also leads the girls’ contingent with a 17-19 state playoff record. Thirteen of the current 19 high schools hold at least one playoff appearance in their history. Martin Luther King, Jr. reached the state playoffs for the first time in school history in 2004 while Chamblee notched its first state playoff berth in 2009 to start a four-year run in the playoffs.