This week would have been the boys state soccer tournament, and several local teams have made recent trips to the Cownie Complex in Des Moines.

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 on May 28th, 2016.

It was the same score on repeat from when the teams met, earlier in the season, and 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. Pella Christian finished the 2016 season as the No. 7 ranked team after the state qualifying appearance, falling to Regina in the quarterfinals 4-1. Nathan De Bruin had the team’s only goal in the school’s first and only game in the final eight of boys soccer in Class 1A.