DES MOINES — It was now or never for Gilbert’s Zachary Schrader.
The Tigers were in a scoreless tie with Des Moines Christian heading toward the final three minutes of the Class 2A boys soccer state championship game on Saturday, June 6, at Mediacom Stadium.
Gilbert had ramped up its urgency on offense, and the Tigers had three close opportunities to score in the final minutes before Schrader’s clutch shot.
Preston Stensland delivered a great cross to Schrader that went just wide left with nine minutes left. Billy Terrones was a little high on a shot from 10 yards out with five minutes left, and Stensland got another look at the net right around the three-minute mark, but he was just high.
That is when Schrader used his head and his legs to get off the shot of the 2A tournament. When the ball was cleared after Stensland’s shot, Schrader managed to step in front of the ball on the left side of the box.
He fired off a shot that rifled toward the net. In the blink of an eye, the ball had made it past DMC keeper Carter Pickard to give the Tigers a 1-0 lead.
“I turned around, I saw the ball flying right toward me and I’m like, this is my chance,” Schrader said. “I take a touch. It’s a little bit wide, but I go after it. I take it, first time, it’s at the back of the net and I go celebrate with my team.”
The victory wrapped up back-to-back 2A state championships and the third state title in four years for the Tigers under coach B.J. Jordison.
“It just feels amazing,” Jordison said. “These guys deserve it. We put on the board the first day of the season what we wanted our goals to be. It was state title, and it was just check marks after that.”
The championship game was a tough battle for the full 80 minutes.
Neither team could get an advantage until Gilbert’s late charge in the final five minutes. Gilbert had a 5-2 edge in corner kicks, but DMC was doing a little bit better at controlling possession.
The Lions nearly broke through early in the second half. The Tigers got off two great looks inside the 18, but Gilbert keeper Tyler Jerkins came up with a clutch save each time.
He deflected the first shot, but he was unable to secure it. That gave another DMC player an opportunity, but Jerkins knocked the ball away and secured it to keep the Lions off the board.
“At that point in the match, anything can happen,” Jerkins said. “A goal goes in and that changes everything. I just got to be there on my toes and ready. I just had to trust my defense to force them into a bad shot and they did, but unfortunately I didn’t catch it and they got it on the rebound, so I came out, got in front of them and they had no chance to score.”
Gilbert’s defense was flawless throughout the tournament. They did not give up a single goal in 260 minutes of play. The 1-0 quarterfinal win over Aplington-Parkersburg/Dike-New Hartford United that included two overtimes before going to sudden-death PKs started the hot streak before Gilbert posted a 2-0 semifinal win over Bishop Heelan. The dominant defense was on full display in the 1-0 championship win.
Gilbert center back Logan Harswick was rightly given 1A all-tournament captain honors. Jerkins was the all-tournament goalie.
Both of those players are part of an elite senior class that went 75-4-1, including 18-1 this season. The Tigers won state titles in 2023, 2025 and 2026, and they reached the state semifinals in 2024.
Three four-year starters led the seniors —Harswick, Stensland and all-state midfielder Terrones.
“I can’t say enough good things about them,” Jordison said. “They’ve been consistently good — they’ve raised the standard for Gilbert soccer.”
DMC finished its season at 15-3-1. The Lions defeated Wahlert Catholic (2-1) and No. 2 seed Unity Christian (1-0) to reach the finals.
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: Zachary Schrader’s clutch goal gives Gilbert boys another state title
Reporting by Joe Randleman, Ames Tribune / Ames Tribune
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Joe Randleman, Ames Tribune | USA TODAY Network
