Here's what makes Gilbert's Justin Terry one of the top goalies in Iowa

BONDURANT — He's always been a basketball guy. But Gilbert keeper Justin Terry will do anything to help his fellow teammates on the soccer field.

“I don’t know much about soccer,” Terry said. "I came out to help the team."

Terry, who averaged 7.2 points and 6.9 rebounds for Gilbert in basketball this season, has been Gilbert's keeper the past two years. During that time, the Tigers have gone from 12-9 last year to 8-1 and the No. 3 ranking in Class 2A this spring.

A big reason for that improvement has been the play of Terry.

Last year, he made 106 saves, but gave up 24 goals — an 81.5% success rate. Entering Tuesday's showdown at No. 6 Bondurant-Farrar, Terry had only surrendered one goal in 40 chances — bumping his success rate to 97.5%.

“He comes out and gives his all when we need it,” Gilbert head coach B.J. Jordison said. “He’s got good reflexes and good length. Sometimes positioning can be an issue, but this year he’s been looking pretty good.”

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Terry allowed his second goal of the season in a 1-0 loss to Bondurant-Farrar. The Bluejays' Zach Kline scored from the right side with just 2:55 left in regulation to hand Gilbert its first loss.

“They were pretty aggressive from the right side,” Terry said. “The whole game, I knew something could happen. I had a near post and just didn’t react soon enough.”

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Terry already wants a chance to atone for his mistake.

His teammates trust that he'll to continue to deliver.

“He’s where he needs to be in correlation with where the ball is on the field,” Gilbert left-center back Owen Kautman said. “That lets him make those saves look easy.”

Kautman is joined in the Tiger defensive backfield by left back Evan Weary, right-center back Alex Ruba and right back Nash Hansen. That battle-tested quartet has been huge in speeding up Terry's development.

“Because he’s not really a soccer guy, he doesn’t really talk a whole lot back there,” Jordison said. “The chemistry of the defense really helps him out. He knows where to rely on them to be and they help him out with his positioning as well with movement of the soccer ball.”

Terry appreciates having such a talented group to back him up.

“I just can’t thank my defense enough,” Terry said. “Nothing comes through against them.”

He said his soccer IQ has grown immensely over the past two years thanks to the bond he's formed with his defense.

But Kautman and the defense can't take all the credit. Terry is 6-foot-4 and a good athlete. That makes it very hard to get a ball past him.

“No one is going to kick it over him,” Kautman said. “He’s got a good reach.”

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Terry admits it's challenge for someone who didn't grow up following the sport to keep an edge for all 80 minutes of play in a game.

“Our defense does a good job, so I kind of get bored back there,” Terry said. “I try my best to stay active. I try to keep on my toes and keep everything out.”

Terry and his teammates did their job for 77 minutes against Bondurant-Farrar. It's maintaining that for an additional three minutes that Gilbert will be challenged with every night going forward.

“Sometimes that happens when you don’t get a lot of shots on goal,” Jordison said. “It’s one of those things we have to keep working on in practice so we can show it in games.”

They don't plan on it happening again.

“We’ve got to lock it down the last five minutes on defense,” Kautman said. “When DCG comes in next Thursday, we’ll be ready.”

Terry said the Bondurant-Farrar game will be a huge motivator down the road as Gilbert attempts to make it back to state for the first time since 2019.

“They’re probably the best team in the state,” Terry said. “But it could have gone either way. Coming to practice tomorrow, we’ll just get back to work.”

This article originally appeared on Ames Tribune: What makes Gilbert soccer's Justin Terry one of top goalies in Iowa?