Heartbreak took a break.

This time, the Gilbert Christian Knights prevailed in a big match. Doing so at Northwest Christian, a pitch where opponents often exit with a loss, was likely even much sweeter.

In a match that featured the top-ranked teams in Tuesday’s 3A power rankings, the Knights secured a pivotal 2-1 victory over a rival.

The skilled squads played at a rapid pace and each defense did a great job of foiling the few scoring chances that came their way.

“Northwest and its coach (Jeremy Witt) are top-notch and wonderful people with great fans,” said Gilbert Christian coach Devon Dickinson, who picked up his first win at NW Christian in seven years. “They have a great tradition here. Every time that we’ve played them for the past four years, it has a been a battle. I’m really proud of our boys.”

The Knights, the state runner-ups last year, broke through first with just four-plus minutes remaining in the first half.

Caleb Barnett, who was injured last year, pounced on an errant pass after a free kick went off a defender.

“You don’t get a much uglier goal than that,” Barnett said. “But that’s just will and want.”

In the second half, Gilbert Christian’s leading scorer, Noah Cooper, used his speed and touch to record his team’s second goal.

After settling a through pass, the junior captain needed just three touches to beat the goalkeeper from about 15 yards. A teammate yelled out "brilliant" and "beautiful" to describe Cooper’s upper net goal, his team leading 19th of the season, as they celebrated.

“I didn’t know what to do at first,” Cooper said. “I was going to take it through but saw the (defender) come up on me quick, so I cut it back.”

But No. 2 ranked NW Christian kept charging until midfielder Mason Blair finally put his team on the board in the 66th minute.

Gilbert Christian’s somewhat young club then had to withstand NW Christian’s attack in the final 11:35, when the Knights played with 10 players after a teammate received his second yellow.

But despite being up a man, 11-2 NW Christian failed to score again in the final minutes. The victory left Gilbert Christian (8-3-1, 2-0 in region) as the only undefeated team in the very tough 3A Metro Region.

The Knights sit in a good spot with five games left in their regular season, but they weren’t satisfied with their performance. During the team’s postgame huddle, a Gilbert Christian player said that Tuesday’s match proved that the Knights are beatable and need to correct some mistakes.

They’ll get a chance to iron out the kinks when they play another top-10 squad, ALA West Foothills, on Thursday.