Baker led New Albany to first state title
After back-to-back losses to Bay High in the state championship game, New Albany head coach Austin Baker and his team finally broke through this year. New Albany captured its first-ever state title in boys soccer by knocking off Bay 3-0 in the finals to cap off a dominant season. Baker is the 2025-26 Daily Journal’s Boys Soccer Coach of the Year.
The Bulldogs were dominant from start to finish. New Albany only lost one game all season, and that was to Clinton, a Class 7A opponent. In the playoffs, the Bulldogs didn’t allow a single goal and scored 35 in five matches.
“It challenged me as a coach because I never want to be complacent,” Baker said. “I didn’t want the players to be content. We had beaten some good teams, played some really good teams.
Our only loss was to Clinton. We tied the 7A state champion 0-0, which that was kind of hanging on for dear life but the kids fought for it. We beat some other 7A programs, and we beat the 6A champs 2-0.
” But New Albany had had stellar regular seasons the last two years, only to finish with a loss in the championship game. The Bulldogs were determined to write a different ending this season. “It stung the first time, I think it stung more than it did the second time,” Baker said.