DES MOINES — Gilbert is headed back to the Class 2A championship game of the Iowa high school boys state soccer tournament.
The Tigers took advantage of goals from Drew Chapman and Preston Stensland in the first half to pull off a 2-0 victory over the Crusaders in the 2A semifinals on June 4 at Mediacom Stadium.
“We do love playing here,” said Gilbert coach B.J. Jordison. “We possessed the ball, we were moving the ball around and we got lots of people involved. It shows that we’re excited for this time of year.”
Chapman’s goal broke the ice for a Gilbert offense that failed to score in a quarterfinal win over Aplington-Parkersburg/Dike-New Hartford United that was decided by sudden-death PKs.
On Thursday, the senior scored on a sensational cross shot 16 minutes, 40 seconds into the game. He got the ball on the right side of the goal, lined up just on the edge of the box and rifled a cross that whizzed off a Bishop Heelan defender and past Crusader keeper Aaron Garcia into the far corner of the net for a 1-0 Tiger advantage.
“I saw that opportunity, so I made the run and Mitch Walter had a great ball to me,” Chapman said. “I was trying to cross, honestly. I just took the line, crossed it, and it deflected off one of the defenders and into the goal.”
It was just Chapman’s fourth goal of the season.
“Last year I was on the state championship-winning team, but I didn’t play very much,” Chapman said. “This offseason, I worked my butt off to try and get better and do what I can do to play and help the team out.”
Stensland scored his goal in the final minute of the first half.
Parker Kennedy had gotten off two close shots on goal in the final minutes of the opening half, the last going just wide right off a ball from Stensland. A few seconds later, Stensland took matters into his own hands, taking a ball from Zachary Schrader and firing off a 20-yard shot from the left side of the box that went into the near side of the goal for a two-score advantage.
“Every day in practice, we always do four lines,” Stensland said. “It’s just that exact drill. You drop the ball back and you hit the shot, so I had the confidence. Schrader just one-touched it back to me and I saw the goalie was on the far side, so I just put it near post.”
The two-goal cushion was huge, but Gilbert was not completely out of the woods until the final minutes of the match.
Talented sophomore striker Cal Giese gave Bishop Heelan some good runs during the game.
Giese got off a nice shot on goal with 13 minutes left in the first half, and he delivered two quality shots in the first seven minutes of the second half that were stopped by Tiger keeper Tyler Jerkins. Giese made a diving header attempt off a free kick from Axel Gonzalez 20 minutes into the second half that went a little high over the goal.
But Gilbert’s talented back four of all-state center back Logan Harswick, Cole Crawford, Eli Hague and Bennett Holz kept the Crusaders in check most of the night to secure the team’s 15th shutout victory of the season.
Gilbert defeated Bishop Heelan at the state tournament for the third time in four years. The Tigers won a 2-1 thriller in the 2023 semifinals en route to their first state title, fell by a 3-1 score to the eventual 2A champion Crusaders in the 2024 semifinals and then prevailed in a 3-2 battle during last year’s state title game.
Gilbert also earned its second victory over Bishop Heelan this season, after previously defeating the Crusaders 3-0 on May 9 at Gilbert.
“There’s a rivalry there, but it’s really a respectful one,” Jordison said. “We enjoy that. It’s always a good game and it’s always a tough game.”
Gilbert heads into its third state championship game in four years with a 17-1 record. Bishop Heelan finished its season with an 11-7-2 record. The Tigers will take on either Unity Christian or Des Moines Christian on Saturday at 10 a.m. for the state title.
Joe Randleman covers high school sports for the Ames Tribune. Contact him at jrandleman@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JoeRandleman
This article originally appeared on Ames Tribune: Gilbert boys soccer powers past Heelan, into Iowa state title game
Reporting by Joe Randleman, Ames Tribune / Ames Tribune
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By Joe Randleman, Ames Tribune | USA TODAY Network
