It was a historic week for high school soccer in the Savannah area.
For the first time in school history, both Islands High School and Savannah Arts Academy brought home GHSA boys soccer state championships, giving the Savannah-area soccer a week nobody will forget.
Islands Make School History
The Islands High School boys soccer team made school history Tuesday night with a strong 6-0 win over East Hall in the GHSA Class 3A state championship match in Duluth.
The win gave the Sharks the first team state championship in any sport in school history.
Islands High School celebrates after winning the 2026 GHSA Class 3A Boys Soccer State Championship, the first state title in school history. (Courtesy GHSA on X)
Islands came out fast and never slowed down.
Sophomore Andrew McLaughlin opened the scoring in the sixth minute before senior JJ Stein added another goal in the 16th minute. Junior Tao Harlan then scored twice, including another goal in the 27th minute, as the Sharks built a commanding 4-0 halftime lead.
Dylan Coggins later added another second-half goal before co-captain Sid Johnson scored on a penalty kick for his first goal of the season to close out the historic championship victory.
Harlan was later named the MVP of the championship match.
The state title capped an outstanding season for Islands, which finished 22-2 overall and a perfect 9-0 in region play. After a two-game losing streak, the Islands ran off seven straight wins. During the playoffs, the Sharks did not allow a goal while scoring 18 in regulation time.
After surviving a tough semifinal win over Jefferson in a penalty kick shootout (4-3), the Islands left no doubt who was the best team on the field in the championship match. The championship also marked a major turnaround for the Sharks, who went 14-8 last season.
Savannah Arts Captures First Soccer Crown
One night later, Savannah Arts Academy made some history of its own.
The Panthers defeated region rival Pierce County 2-0 Wednesday night in Atlanta to capture the GHSA Class 2A boys soccer state championship, the first state title in the soccer program history.
Savannah Arts Academy celebrates after capturing the 2026 GHSA Class 2A Boys Soccer State Championship, the first boys soccer state title in program history. (Courtesy GHSA on X)
Savannah Arts wasted little time taking control.
Caden Powell scored early before Sebastian Nunez added another goal to give the Panthers a 2-0 halftime lead.
From there, Savannah Arts’ defense handled the rest.
The Panthers kept Pierce County off the scoreboard throughout the second half to finish off the championship victory after already defeating their region rival twice earlier in the season.
Savannah Arts closed the season with a program-best 17-6 overall record while bringing home the school’s first GHSA boys soccer state championship trophy.
For one week, the Savannah-area soccer had the soccer world talking across Georgia.
And both programs made history doing it.
Photo courtesy of GHSA
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