Perry's Jackie Gilbert watches her PK that trickled in to beat Pinnacle on Tuesday (AzPreps365 photo)

#1 seed Xavier Prep earned a return trip to the 6A soccer final with a first-half goal. #2 Perry used the a header that wasn't a header and a trickling PK to nab its spot in the championship match.

Xavier edged #5 Hamilton, 1-0, and Perry followed by rallying late to top #3 Pinnacle, 1-1 (5-3 PKs) in semifinal action at Campo Verde High School. Xavier and Perry battle for the title on Saturday at 11 a.m. at Campo Verde HS. Xavier is seeking its 10th title in the sport; Perry its first.

Xavier's (14-3-2) got its usual game-winning goal from junior Kyla Ferry, who cleaned up a free kick attempt from a couple yards out in the 34th minute. Ferry has supplied the Gators with eight game-winning tallies this season. The free kick was taken by sophomore Jocelyn Rupp, who later in the game deflected a Hamilton shot that Xavier coach Barb Chura felt certain would have found the back of the net had she not intervened.

"Kyla is one of the best players in the country, not just in Arizona," Chura said. "We decided to play Ferry in the midfield today because of her versatility. Hamilton had most of the run of play and and we had some. I've been on both sides of these kind of games. Won some and lost some..

"We graduated seven starting seniors and had four returning starters. The other players new and who didn't start last year have blended in. I can't tell you how proud I am of all of them."

Hamilton (14-6-3) lost early last month to Xavier by the same 1-0 score. The Huskies certainly won the battle in the first half, but lost the war with the 1-0 deficit. The second half was closer to even, but Hamilton couldn't solve Gators' senior keeper and four-year starter Kinsey Ehmann or the solid defensive effort of the back third. Ehmann is headed to Pepperdine for college in the fall.

in the nightcap of Tuesday's semifinal twinbill, Perry (22-2) used a relentless attack in the second half to finally notch a tying goal in the 75th minute. Pinnacle (15-3-2) used a goal in the 16th minute by Jayla Patrick Wells that had Perry in catch-up mode for nearly the rest of the match.

Trinity Kaufman, a place-kicker on the Pumas football team, used her face (right cheek) to knock in the goal that evened the contest.

After the customary two 10-minute overtime periods went scoreless, Perry used its fifth PK to decide the outcome. Senior Jackie Gilbert stepped up with Perry leading 4-3. The previous four Perry PKs (by Delaney Uyeshiro, Shaylynn Uyeshiro, Annie Wolter and Logan VanDine) were untouched by Pinnacle keeper Rachael Black.

Gilbert's attempt , however, was initially stopped but not completely controlled by Black. It managed to trickle across the goal line sending Perry players to a dog pile just across from their bench. Perry keeper Makayla Aman saved Pinnacle's second PK attempt that kept the Pumas on top from that point forward in the shootout.

Pinnacle suffered two of its three losses this season to Perry and one of its ties was to Xavier. The Pioneers were bidding for their first championship appearance since 2014 when they defeated Perry in the Pumas' only title-game appearance.