Winning at the Highest Level: HOW THE VIKINGS DISMANTLED THE ST. JOHN’S DYNASTY UNDER COACH STREETS’ LEADERSHIP

Written by Adam Spafford

Girls’ Varsity Soccer Coach Jason Streets and his teams have skillfully achieved much success over the years, but there was still one thing missing–that is, until February’s State Championship victory over St. John’s Country Day.

Sure, the Vikings were coming off of back-to-back State Championships, but they had steered clear of the St. John’s dynasty because LCS played in the 3A division, but a month before the season started, it was announced they were being moved to 2A where St. John’s resides.

“A remarkable, unbelievable experience.” That’s how Coach Streets (‘98 LCS alumni) describes his team’s championship run last winter when the girls battled back from injuries throughout the season to unseat the reigning 11-time State Champion Spartans. “I’d already completed my schedule based on 3A, but suddenly, the season looked much different.”

If LCS was going to three-peat, they’d now have to beat a team that had defeated them 10 times. The Vikings have long been one of the best teams in the state; the 2022-23 season marked the 13th year making the state’s final four, and the seventh trip to the finals in 12 years. Street’s team knew the sweet taste of success but to achieve it at the highest level in 2A was going to take a special run.

Reflecting on this championship run, where the Vikings finished the season 23-2-2, Coach Streets credits the love his players have for each other as a key to their success. “The girls view this team as a family,” he says. “If you could have been around the last three weeks of the season, you’d have witnessed instances of players weeping as they realized that our time as a team was growing short. They’ve all contributed to the championship legacy over the last three years. The love they share is the reason they did what many people thought they couldn’t do.”

The players’ affection for one another manifested as pure competitiveness on the field. “The first half of the season was pretty good, although at one point we had five starters out with injuries,” Coach recalls. “We lost a couple of games we shouldn’t have, tied a couple we shouldn’t have. But we really hit our stride right after Christmas. We beat Montverde Academy—a team that had beaten St. Johns. I remember leaving that game thinking we really had a good chance because of the way we defended.”

The team went on to score the most goals it has ever scored in a playoff run, out-scoring the opposition 35-2 over the course of seven contests, starting with District. “The State Semi-final against Shorecrest (a 2-1 Vikings win) was an incredibly hard game, but it was a win,” says Streets. “We had a lot of confidence going into the finals as it was our third time in a row in the championship game—although this time we’d play the best girls’ soccer program in any class, the team that every team aspires to be.”

On February 22, the teams met at Stetson University. “I thought we had a good game plan for St. John’s. It turned out to be a bit of an unusual game: we had only two corner kicks whereas they had eight!” he says. “They out-shot us, but not by a huge margin – and our defensive effort was incredible. We were up 2-0 with seven minutes to go. St. John’s caught us with thirty seconds left but were unable to tie it up and we won 2-1.”

The early season change to 2A may have rattled lessseasoned coaches, but Streets can rely on his 19-year tenure at LCS as well as four decades of playing experience. At 44, he still competes in a club league, and his time on the field began at age 4. He played pick-up soccer in his neighborhood throughout childhood. “There were no phones or tablets–soccer was life!” he says. “The sport was always part of my family’s life, too. My father coached my older brothers for many years.”

When he moved from rec league to competitive club soccer when he was 8-years-old, his father became his coach as well. From 7th grade on, Streets played simultaneously in club soccer and at LCS under soccer program founder Dean Johnson. Over the years, the Street’s father-and-son duo would win four club soccer State Championships. “It’s so awesome to say I could do that with my dad,” he says. He enjoyed three additional championships with Johnson’s LCS team. Remarkably, the elder Streets would remain his son’s club coach until Jason went off to Liberty University where he played throughout college.

After graduation Streets got married and moved back to Lakeland where it happened that LCS was looking for a new coach for its girls soccer team. “I’d never coached and wasn’t sure that I wanted to do it,” Streets recalls. “But I quickly realized that I love coaching, especially girls soccer.”

His own children now attend LCS, too, and he’s looking forward to coaching his daughter in the years to come.

It was a storybook ending to the season for the Vikings, and now there are now challenges on the horizon. The program graduated 11 seniors this year, meaning new players are going to have to step into leadership roles. “Next year’s going to be interesting,” Coach says. “Still, we have a lot of talented players returning.”