John Kortman purposely kept himself busy—attending his daughter’s club soccer game and grabbing a bite to eat—to avoid becoming “antsy” before the biggest game of the season. 

But nothing could stop Northwest Christian’s coach's stomach from likely churning with less than seven minutes remaining and his team trailing mighty Gilbert Christian 1-0 in the 3A championship game at Mesa High Saturday. That’s until Emma Zakarian stepped up to take the biggest shot of her high school career. 

The senior’s 22-yard free kick travelled to the perfect spot to tie the match, calm her team’s nerves and give Northwest Christian the momentum it needed to capture a dramatic 2-1 overtime victory. Another set piece—in the 87th minute—ultimately clinched the fourth title for the NW Christian (20-2-1) program. 

"Every free kick that I take I tell myself that I’m going to make it,” said Zakarian, the 3A title game MVP. "I know where I am going to place it and where it’s going to go. I was just very confident in my shot and knew it was going in.

“This means a lot. We’ve been working for four years for it. We put our heart on the field every day and leave everything, and we knew we deserved this win.” 

Emma Zakarian, the 3A MVP, was clutch down the stretch of the 3A title game. (Jose Garcia photo/AZPreps365)

Zakarian’s equalizer—the 10th and final second half shot for NW Christian—dipped just below the crossbar with only 6:58 remaining in the match. 

Gilbert Christian’s goalkeeper made a valiant attempt to redirect the high shot but to no avail. After 17-5-2 Gilbert Christian defeated NW Christian in their first closely contested 2-1 overtime match in the regular season, both teams braced themselves for another grind-it-out match.

Neither team gave an inch once again, with their championship duel ultimately determined by set pieces. The game winning set piece touches were delivered by Heidi Broek first and then freshman Naomi Huss and junior Chloe Graham:

Gilbert Christian’s goal, in the 18th minute, came after an Amber Peterson set piece. Brinkley Stansberry eventually took a shot that NW Christian tried to clear but wound up as an own goal.  

“We have a ton of respect for (Gilbert Christian),” Kortman said. “We knew that it was going to be a fight. And we knew that they’re gifted and very talented. We knew that this game wasn’t going to come easy and it was going to take everything we got."

It’s not the result it wanted, but Gilbert Christian also played like a champion Saturday at Mesa High. (Jose Garcia photo/AZPreps365)