Why Grace Christian's second TSSAA soccer state championship took more grit – Knoxville News Sentinel

MURFREESBORO — Grace Christian Academy suffered its only loss of the season in the Division II-A East Region final to Notre Dame on May 7, losing on penalties after a 2-2 tie in regulation.
When junior defender Pedro Salvador learned the Rams would get a rematch with the Fighting Irish in the state championship game, he put it down to God’s will.
“He put us in this moment against those guys for a reason,” Salvador said.
Salvador scored two goals in the title game, bookending a 3-1 victory on May 21 at Richard Siegel Soccer Complex to finish off Grace Christian’s second straight TSSAA soccer state championship. The Rams (16-1-1) have won the state tournament both times they’ve appeared in it, following a 3-0 victory over Webb – Bell Buckle last season.
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“It means everything to us,” said senior striker Colby Gouge. “I feel like we had to work a whole lot harder this year. We had a lot of adversity this year, but we persevered.”
Despite a strong start for the Rams, who took the first seven shots of the game, Notre Dame (21-1-1) scored against the run of play in the 23rd minute. Grace Christian didn’t panic, tying the game seven minutes later when Salvador headed in a corner kick from Vicenzo Barbosa.
Gouge fired home a rebound one minute into the second half to put the Rams ahead for good. Salvador all but sealed the deal in with 15 minutes to play when he stuck with a loose ball in the penalty box and squeezed it past the Notre Dame goalie.
“God will give us hard times, and God gives us good times, and we just have to keep moving forward and trying to honor Him,” said Grace Christian coach Isaac Brooks. “They weather the storm, and they just keep playing how they’re supposed to play.”
Grace Christian scored 99 goals last season, but 78 of those goals came from players not on the team in 2026. The Rams still finished the season with 100 goals in the same number of games. Salvador, who doubled his season total against Notre Dame, got them over the century mark with his final goal.
According to him, there might have been more skill on last season’s team, but the 2026 Rams made up for it with hard work and devotion.
“The grit on this team was special,” Brooks said.
Jacob Shames can be reached by email at jshames@gannett.com and on X/Twitter @Jacob_Shames.

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