The No. 7 Valley Christian Trojans boys soccer team defeated the No. 10 Odyssey Institute Minotaurs, at home on Feb. 11, in a thrilling ending, 1-0, to make history by moving on to the quarterfinals for the first time in 12 years, according to Valley Christian Athletics. 

The seventh game of the first round was a rematch from earlier in the year, which Odyssey had won, 4-2, at Benson Field on Jan. 29.  

Although the last meeting saw a lot of scores, this time was the opposite. Both teams had many opportunities to score, but after 75 minutes of scoreless play, a penalty kick was awarded to Valley Christian.

Sophomore Elijah Mims, after being fouled in the box, knocked in the ball from the spot. He faked right, tricking the goalie, and rolled the ball into the left side of the goal. 

“Oh my God, that was heartwarming," Mims said about his game-winning penalty kick, with five minutes left to go in the game. "That was amazing. I’m so happy with that. I was nervous, but I got it in."

The first half was back and forth, but neither team could score. The Trojans had four shots and one save, the Minotaurs had five shots and two saves after the first period. 

After a solid first 40 minutes, Valley Christian coach Kyle Juist knew just what to say to his team at the break.

“Last time we played those guys we made some defensive mistakes,” Juist said. “This time in the first half we were really clean, clearing the ball, being strong. My biggest encouragement to them was to stay strong.” 

Stay strong he preached and stay strong the team did. After withholding 12 shots from the opposition and senior goalie Kyle Lason racking up five saves, Valley Christian was able to complete the shutout. 

The final minutes of the second period was heartattack in a bottle. With just under 10 minutes to go, Odyssey had one of their shots ricochet off both the right and left post for a near miss. 

After the Valley Christian goal, Larson saved another Odyssey shot with under a minute left. 

Senior Sam Odom knew how his team would be able to handle the pressure and hold on. 

“From being a private Christian school, often times religion helps us so much,” Odom said. “We didn’t really have time to say a prayer before this game because we were more locked in, but I heard some of them [teammates] saying prayers during the game, and we were just saying thank you to God the whole time, and thank you to each other." 

Not only was it a great feat for the players, it was also a big accomplishment for the young coach. Getting the school this far in just his fourth year with the program, according to Valley Christian Athletics. 

“I’m just honored that the AD would hire me at 22 years old and trust me to a program, and let me coach these guys and be a mentor in their lives,” Juist said.

Valley Christian is set up for their quarterfinal game on Feb. 15th, at 2 p.m. as they take on No. 15 Pusch Ridge.