When a team surrenders its first goal in a span of 50 days, or in soccer terms 872 minutes and 52 seconds -- nearly 22 halves of play -- it's only natural to wonder how they respond.
While visiting St. Peter found life in the Section 2A semifinals Oct. 21 at Champions Hall in Eden Prairie, Southwest Christian kept telling themselves to move on, to get the next goal.
Senior captain Avery Tollefson said the team talked about the mindset of being down a goal -- which happened just once Sept. 1 in the final minute in the lone loss to Holy Family Catholic. And while not down, just tied at one, with 7:40 left, the Stars continued to fight.
"You have to put it behind you. You have to keep pushing for the next goal," Southwest Christian senior captain Emma Baribault said.
With under a minute remaining, Baribault found the ball on her foot at midfield, a counter attack of sorts. Tollefson knew exactly what to do. Sprinting ahead into the box, Baribault's free ball found her speedster teammate.
And the rest was history. The first section championship appearance for the Stars.
"I took the shot and I turn around and I see Emma with her arms up and we just started screaming together," Tollefson said. "What a moment. It's what you play for."
Southwest Christian, a 2-1 winner, will now play for the Section 2A championship on Saturday, Oct. 24. The Stars have won 11 straight matches and has a 13-1 record.
Top seed Waconia beat Mankato West 2-0 in the second semifinal on Thursday, Oct. 23 at the Irish Dome in Rosemount.
The championship site and time have yet to be determined.
"If you had told me as a freshman we would be playing for the section championship, I probably wouldn't have believed you," Tollefson said.
Baribault agreed, the strides the Stars program has made in recent years is based on hard work -- and not allowing other teams to score.
St. Peter became just the second team this season to score against Southwest Christian, a free kick on a hand ball just outside the penalty box hitting the crossbar, an ensuing rebound shot from Adrianna Bxby finding the net with 7:40 to play.
Southwest Christian had taken the 1-0 lead with 25:47 left as a combination play between Payton Stafford and Baribault resulted in a chance for a cross. Senior Sarah Johnson, having just subbed 90 seconds earlier, went to the far post.
"I didn't even see the ball go in. I slid to kick the ball and when I got up I saw everyone rushing toward me and I realized I had scored," Johnson said.
Playing indoors on a smaller playing field at Champions Hall because of the Oct. 20 snowstorm meant a faster surface. It also meant teams needed to be creative to create scoring chances.
For Johnson and Tollefson, they finished off the creativity of captain Baribault and now they're playing for the championship.
"It feels amazing. This team is so deep and talented. We've really had a great season and we hope to go and win the section (on Saturday)," Baribault said.
It was the first loss in 14 matches for St. Peter (10-1-3).