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Pete Peterson
Pete Petersen joined Laker Nation in April of 2004 and is the second longest active member of the Clayton State Athletic Department behind only Mike Mead of cross country and track & field.
Clayton State Career Highlights
- 183 career wins (Tied for second all-time in the PBC)
- Six PBC Championships
- PBC Coach of the Year (2005, 2007, 2010, 2019, 2022) (Most in PBC history)
- NSCAA Region Coach of the Year (2010)
- 10 All-American Selections
- Two COSIDA Academic All-America Selections (2019, 2020)
- One United Soccer Coaches Scholar All-American Selection (2021)
- 67 All-Region Selections
- Five PBC Players of the Year (2007, 2009, 2010, 2019, 2021, 2022)
- Four PBC Freshmen of the Year (2007, 2008, 2010, 2017)
- Six PBC Golden Boot Players (Player that scores the most goals in the PBC) (2007 ,2008 ,2015 ,2017 ,2019 ,2022)
- Two PBC Tournament MVPs (2005, 2007)
The most successful coach in Clayton State Athletics history, Petersen has represented the Lakers since 2004. During his run as leader of the men’s soccer program, he has compiled a 183-130-30 record.
Over the course of his career at Clayton State, Petersen has won six PBC titles and a Southeast Region Championship that came in 2010 when his team reached the Elite Eight for the first and only time in program history.
The 2022 season was a special one for the Lakers as they boasted a 10-5-4 record and went 7-3-2 in the Peach Belt. Petersen mentored Geo Rios, who finished tied for second in the nation with 15 assists and was tied for first in the nation with .79 assists a match. Rios also was awarded the D2CCA Southeast Region Player of the Year. The Lakers finished the 2022 season falling in the PBC Semifinals to Flagler. Petersen also mentored Langston Blackstock, who was awarded the Gold Ball, which is given to the player who scored the most goals in the PBC. Blackstock also was a first-team All-Southeast Region selection in the D2CCA. Coach Petersen also saw three of his student-athletes get rewarded as CSC (formerly CoSIDA) academic All-District selection (Christian Ransome, Geo Rios, and Lewis Green). As more awards and honors come out, this year will be updated accordingly.
The 2021 season actually consisted of two seasons as the 2020 season was pushed to spring 2021. That season featured a 10-game, conference only slate. The Lakers finished that schedule with a 3-6 record. The fall 2021 season reverted back to a traditional season as the Lakers played conference and non-conference opponents.
Clayton State put together a 9-8-2 record which saw them advance to the Peach Belt Conference Championship Game. The Lakers, after beating Lander 2-0 in the semifinals, played against the No. 1 team in the country, the Young Harris Mountain Lions. After falling behind 2-0, the Lakers answered and made it a 2-1 game, but were unable to get any closer as time ran down.
Several players had breakout seasons as Geo Rios was named PBC Co-Player of the Year and earned a pair of All-Region honors. In addition, he was named a Scholar All-American, a first in program history. Theo Blachon, Alexis Iturria and Langston Blackstock were also named All-Region.
The 2019 season would see a resurgent year for Petersen as the Lakers finished the season with a 14-6 record, tying a program record for the third most wins in a season. That season saw six All-Region selections, the most since 2010, and three All-American selections. The team also had 12 conference weekly honors, marking the most for a Clayton State men’s soccer team.
Ryan King earned two of the All-American selections, two All-Region selections, was named PBC Player of the Year, first-team All-PBC and was awarded the league’s Gold Ball Award, which is given to the conference’s leading scorer.
Petersen also earned recognition as he picked up his fourth Conference Coach of the Year Award. In addition to the on-the-field honors, the Lakers made it count in the classroom as they earned a 3.3 team GPA and saw Dusan Stankovic earn PBC Elite 15 honors. At the conclusion of the season, Tim Neusesser became the first men's soccer player to be named CoSIDA Academic All-America.
After the spring 2021 season, Mitro Turunen joined Neusesser in the Academic All-America club. The duo represents two of the seven selections.
Over the course of the men’s soccer history, the Lakers have advanced to six NCAA tournament and have claimed eight PBC titles. Petersen has been responsible for four of the NCAA trips and six of the PBC titles.
He led the team to the NCAA Tournament in three of his first four years (2004, 2005, 2007) before making a fourth trip in 2010. That year would be the most successful in program history as the Lakers went 19-4 overall and won three straight one goal games to earn the Southeast Regional championship and advance to the Elite Eight for the first time in team history. Following those wins over Lees-McRae (2-1), Flagler (1-0) and Anderson (1-0), it would take overtime for Rollins to slip past them by a 3-2 score in the national semifinals.
That season saw three All-American selections, 10 All-Region selections, PBC Player of the Year, PBC Freshman of the Year, PBC Coach of the Year and NSCAA Region Coach of the Year.
Four times his teams have finished the season in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) rankings, including No. 15 in 2004, No. 12 in 2005, No. 22 in 2007 and No. 5 in 2010. The 2019 campaign also saw the Lakers reach as high as No. 19 in the country.
Petersen has coached 10 of the program’s 13 All-Americans and 65 of 71 All-Region selections.
Prior to Clayton State, Petersen served as an assistant coach at Davidson College in 1988. In 1989, he was the head coach at Spartanburg Methodist compiling a record of 79-28-6 and helped lead the Pioneers to win the 1994 NJCAA National Championship. In 1999, Petersen then served as an assistant coach at Presbyterian College. In 2012, he was named to the Spartanburg Methodist Hall of Honor.
He also served as a South Carolina state Olympic Developmental Program Coach (ODP) and has coached at the youth levels with clubs such as St. Giles (S.C.), who is currently CESA; Concorde Fire, Norcross, Gwinnett Soccer Assoc., SSA, AFC Lightning; all in Georgia.
Following his National Championship at Spartanburg Methodist, Petersen spent eight seasons in the United Soccer Leagues (USL) where he worked with the South Carolina Shamrocks (1994-96) as Director of Operations and head coach, Jacksonville Cyclones (1997-98), as the General Manager and Head Coach, Raleigh Capital Express (1999), as the head coach and Atlanta Silverbacks (2000-01), as an assistant coach and then eventually the President.
On May 28, 1999, the Express started veteran U.S. Women’s National Team forward Wendy Gebauer against the Boston Bulldogs. Already a member of the first Women’s World Cup Championship Team in 1991, she became the first woman to suit up in a professional men’s soccer game in the United States.
Petersen earned a Bachelor of Arts in History from Presbyterian College where he was a four-year standout for the Blue Hose men’s soccer program. He scored 34 career goals including 13 in 1984 when he was named an NSCAA and NAIA All-American.
A long-standing member of the United Soccer Coaches, previously named the NSCAA, Petersen also holds a United State Soccer Federation (USSF) “A” License, USSF Goalkeeping "A" License and a United Soccer Coaches Premier certified coach. Additionally, these memberships and certifications have presented opportunities for him to coach 15 national team members (both the United States and other nations), 14 Major League Soccer players and five USL All-Stars.
After completing his studies at Presbyterian, Petersen was commissioned in the United States Army from 1985-88. During that time he served as a First Lieutenant and Platoon Leader in the 82nd Airborne Division stationed in Ft. Bragg, North Carolina. Following his time in the Army, Petersen earned a Master degree in Sports Science from the United States Sports Academy in 1989.
Petersen, whose hometown is Atlanta, grew up in Ghana and Nigeria, West Africa, from 1967-82. Petersen was a son of missionary parents. Petersen is married to Mona Banks and they have a daughter, Priscilla, who is a junior at Kennesaw State University.
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