Pete Petersen joined Laker Nation in April of 2004 and is the longest active member of the Clayton State Athletic Department. 

Clayton State Career Highlights

- 220 career wins (second all-time in the PBC)

- Nine PBC Championships

- PBC Coach of the Year (2005, 2007, 2010, 2019, 2022, 2023, 2024) (Most in PBC history)

- NSCbAA Region Coach of the Year (2010)

- Coached 24 players that went onto various professional leagues (Click Here for Full List)

- 6x Top-25 Final Poll Finisher (2004: 15; 2005: 12; 2007: 22; 2010: 5 ; 2023: 16; 2024: 5)

- Coached 18 of 21 All-American Selections 

- Three College Sport Communicators (CSC) Academic All-America Selections (2019, 2020, 2022)

- Five United Soccer Coaches Scholar All-American Selection (2021, 2022, 2025)

- 79 All-Region Selections out of 86 coached

- Seven PBC Players of the Year (2007, 2009, 2010, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024)

- Four PBC Freshmen of the Year (2007, 2008, 2010, 2017)

- One PBC Defensive Player of the Year (2023)

- Seven PBC Golden Boot Players (Player that scores the most goals in the PBC) (2007 ,2008 ,2015 ,2017 ,2019 , 2022, 2024)

- Three PBC Tournament MVPs (2005, 2007, 2023)

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 220-146-39 record.  He also has compiled a record of 109-72-16 in the Peach Belt Conference including passing Van Taylor from Lander University for the the all-time lead in wins in PBC contests.  He accomplished that feat when the Lakers defeated USC Aiken, 3-1, on October 19th, 2024.      

Over the course of his career at Clayton State, Petersen has won nine PBC titles and a Southeast Region Championship that came in 2010 when his team reached the Elite Eight for the first time in program history.  His team in 2024 would be the second team to reach the Elite Eight under the direction of coach Petersen.  

The 2025 season saw the Lakers go 8-8-4 overall and 5-5-2 in the PBC.  This season saw a bunch of highs as coach Petersen and the Lakers took down a ranked Lander team and the #1 seed in the PBC Tournament, North Georgia.  Because of the success of the 2024 season, Clayton State was a preseason ranked 5th in the nation.  Coach Petersen saw All-Region and all-conference honoree Gonzalo LaChica lead the team with six goals while second-team mention Camilo Velez led the team with eight assists.  On the academic side,  the program saw a record six CSC All-District selections and four PBC All-Academic team selections.  

The 2024 season proved to be a record-setting season for the Lakers as they capped off their season with a trip to the 2024 NCAA DII Men's Soccer Elite Eight.  The season saw the Lakers finish with an overall record of 13-4-4 and went 8-1-1 in the PBC.  Coach Petersen guided the Lakers to their second-straight PBC Regular Season Title,  a runners-up finish in the Tournament, earned his seventh PBC Coach of the Year honor, and his team was awarded the PBC Sportsmanship Award.  The Lakers made a great run in the NCAA Tournament defeating Converse in PKs in the Round of 32 and defeated No. 1 ranked Limestone in the Sweet 16 in overtime. Under the direction of Petersen, the Lakers saw three players selected as All-Americans; Alexis Iturria (1st USC, 3rd D2CCA), Alex Rodriguez (1st), and Mauricio Uribe (3rd).  The Lakers also saw Iturria, Othmane Chagour, Rodriguez, and Uribe earn USC All-Region honors as well as D2CCA All-Region accolades.  At the conference level, Rodriguez earned the Conference's Player of the Year and the Gold Ball winner and saw four other first-team All-PBC selections. This season also saw Isami Takeuchi and Camilo Velez earn CSC Academic All-District honors.  In all, the Lakers scored 42 goals and conceded 21, which is the fewest since 2013.