The Pella Christian boys’ soccer team clinched a spot in the Class 1A state soccer tournament after their 1-0 victory over rival Des Moines Christian Saturday.

It was the same score on repeat from when these teams met in the season’s infancy six weeks ago. Scoring was at a premium, as Pella Christian’s Gabriel Soler was the lone scorer on a free kick ten minutes into action.

From there, both teams had a series of near-makes, but neither could crack the other’s back line defense with any frequency. Head Coach Gerrit Brouwer tells KNIA/KRLS Sports the win was a culmination of hard work by this group of varsity players.

“It brings a little tear to my eye, actually,” he says. “It’s pretty special because a lot of the kids have been working really hard to make this happen.”

No. 7 Pella Christian is 13-4 and will play a foe all to familiar to Eagles fans–No. 2 Iowa City Regina in the first round of the tournament on Thursday at 12:05 on Field Number Seven of the Cownie Sports Complex in Des Moines.