No. 1 vs. No. 2.

The old guard vs. the new guard.

A state title rematch.

The hype for the Gilbert Christian-Yuma Catholic match was massive—and the teams absolutely backed it up. With the fan side of Mesa High School's stadium nearly filled Saturday night, the 3A finalists engaged in another evenly played match. 

At 18:03, Noah Collier ultimately delivered the decisive blow, allowing top-seeded Gilbert Christian to defend its crown with a 2-1 triumph. It did so with arguably its best field player, central midfielder Jackson Lundberg, out with an injury he suffered in the semifinals. 

Without its captain, a box-to-box type player, and using just two subs, coach Devon Dickinson was left designing new schemes at halftime of the championship game. But Gilbert Christian did possess a valuable commodity—grit. 

That was apparent on the final scoring play, when Elijah Mims eluded a defender at midfield on the left side to break free. As Collier lined up with Yuma Catholic's back line, Mims sent a pass forward for Collier to chase. 

With Yuma Catholic’s goalkeeper’s rapidly approaching, Collier stretched his 6-5 frame across the turf, steering the ball into the net for the eventual game winner. 

“To be honest, I go all in or not at all on that play,” Collier said. "So I went all in and slid and saw the ball go into the back of the net, and it was one of the best feelings in my life.”

The tall Noah Collier delivered an MVP performance Saturday. (Jose Garcia photo/AZPreps365)

Another tall player, Noah Cooper, had a similar feeling after scoring the first goal of the match. 

Cooper’s header over the goalkeeper from about 11 yards after receiving a well-placed assist by Brady Fredrickson handed Gilbert Christian an early 5th minute 1-0 lead. That was one of only two shots Gilbert Christian took in the first half. 

Yuma Catholic (20-2-1) unofficially outshot Gilbert Christian (17-3-1) 18-10 and was rewarded for its efforts in the 56th minute. 

That’s when Diego Pompa put a way a rebound off his own shot. Yuma Catholic opened its 2025-26 campaign with a 4-2 victory over Gilbert Christian and started a freshman, Cade Garcia, who had scored 45 goals coming into Saturday’s match. 

But Gilbert Christian shaded its defense to Garcia’s side during the final and man-marked him near the end. 

“It’s been a great rivalry,” Dickinson said. "I would say it’s very hard fought, clean soccer. (Yuma Catholic) has been a dynasty and has a bunch of them (7 titles). The last eight years we’ve been staking our claim. And so now it’s been the new versus the old, and every year it’s going to be a battle.”

More big battles are expected, as both teams return plenty of talent next season for a potential title trilogy. 

Yuma Catholic made its 11th state title appearance Saturday night. (Jose Garcia photo/AZPreps365)