It was truly a family affair for the Gilbert Christian Knights Saturday in the 3A soccer championships, but Tucson Pusch Ridge Christian Academy spoiled the reunion.

Like their girl counterparts, the No. 1 seeded Knights (15-6) jumped out to a very quick lead when a rocket off the foot of Kaleb Powell from 15-yards out in traffic staked them to a 1-0 lead at Coronado High School.

But unfortunately for Powell and his teammates, a stingy Lions’ defense and goalkeeper play was activated during the rest of the contest. No. 2 seed Pusch Ridge (20-4) got just enough offense themselves to overcome the slip up out of the gate, all leading to a 2-1 state title win.

It was the first in the history of that boys soccer program.

“This is great. We have a core of seniors and we worked four years to get to this point. We are just excited they were able to finally get it,” Lions’ head coach Geoff Neale said.

After the Powell goal, it appeared as if the Knights, winners of 10 of their last 11 heading into the title tilt, were going to secure a second first place trophy for the school on the day.

But as quick as Pusch Ridge fell behind, they were quickly able to about face things just under 10 minutes later.

At the 29:44 mark, the Lions’ Kegan Dorschner managed to get off a 20-yard shot in traffic that beat the Gilbert Christian goalie, tying the contest up at 1-1.

Then, just 28 seconds later, Pusch Ridge’s Collin Tompkins was able to corral a long pass from his back line, slipping by the Knights’ defense in the process. The result ended with a Tompkins goal and a 2-1 Lions’ lead.

The score remained the same for the duration of the match.

“We had about ten minutes in the first half where we weren’t quite ready for the thru balls, the over-the-top stuff, and I didn’t make adjustments fast enough,” Gilbert Christian coach Devon Dickinson explained.

The win for the Lions helped avenge a devastating loss to Gilbert Christian in last year’s quarterfinals, when the Knights used penalty kicks to break a 1-1 deadlock to advance and eliminate Pusch Ridge.

“It feels great. We’ve been unlucky in past playoff games, but this time we deserve it,” said Lions’ goalie Brandon Rhodes. “(Last year’s loss) was on all of our minds coming in, but we just blocked it out and took care of business.”