Johns Creek's Ryan Gottschalk named Georgia boys soccer player of the year

Ryan Gottschalk’s senior season ended with Johns Creek’s first boys soccer state championship, and it finished with Georgia’s top individual honor as well. The Johns Creek High School midfielder was named the 2025-26 Gatorade Georgia Boys Soccer Player of the Year after leading the Gladiators to a 22-1 record, a Class AAAAA title and a profile that now reaches beyond north metro Atlanta.

Gottschalk, listed at 5-foot-10 and 145 pounds, produced 24 goals and 12 assists while keeping an A average. He scored in Johns Creek’s 2-0 win over River Ridge High School in the state final on May 13 at Duluth High School, a result that ended the two-time defending champion’s run and delivered the school’s first state title. Aiden Giacomelli also scored for the Gladiators in the championship match.

The award adds to a season already packed with milestones. Gottschalk was named the Region 7-AAAAA Player of the Year, and Johns Creek athletics said he also earned Class AAAAA State Player of the Year recognition from United Soccer Coaches. He was the school’s Male Athlete of the Month for March, another marker of how central he was to a team that kept winning against the region and the state’s best opposition.

Johns Creek’s march to the title included a 1-0 win over Woodward Academy, a 7-0 rout of Habersham Central, a 7-1 win over Riverwood and a 3-0 semifinal victory over Decatur before the championship win over River Ridge. That run showed the range of what elite high school soccer in the north metro now looks like: a premium on depth, finishing, and players who can influence games from the midfield and still carry academic weight at a high level.

Gottschalk has signed to play soccer at the Coast Guard Academy in New London, Connecticut, turning a dominant high school season into the next step on the college path. Gatorade’s boys soccer state awards are in their 41st year of recognizing the nation’s top high school athletes, and Gottschalk’s selection places Johns Creek firmly among the programs setting the standard for the Forsyth County and North Fulton soccer corridor.

His resume also extended beyond the field. Gatorade said Gottschalk volunteered with the Young Men’s Service League and the Heart & Hope for Humanity Foundation, and served as a partner player for a child with special needs through North Fulton United FC. For local families tracking what it takes to reach that level, his final high school season offered the full formula: championship production, academic discipline, community service and a college destination already locked in.