The #18 Valley Christian girls soccer team ended their season in the first round of the playoffs last week against the #15 Odyssey Institute Minotaurs on February 2nd in a neck-and-neck game.  

The first half of the game was evenly matched and both teams had good possession of the ball. In the second half, the Minotaurs had a lot more possession and shots, but junior keeper Melody Clauss came up with big saves.  

The final whistle blew and it was still 0-0, so the game had to go to extra time, which added two halves of 10 minutes each. After the extra time was over, it was still 0-0, so the game went to penalty kicks. Unfortunately, the penalties ended in a 2-3 loss to Odyssey Institute.  

Senior Kylie Brown said, "We fought as a team. We went into overtime and then penalty kicks, which we unfortunately fell short in".  

The girls have a lot to be proud of. They finished the season with a 9-7-1 record and a playoff berth.  

Coach Lynn Spina shared, "I was incredibly proud of the way the girls played! They worked hard, played with grit, and honestly left everything on the field. It was unfortunate that we had to lose to a penalty shoot out, I would have loved to have continued playing until their cleats fell off! Although our season ended sooner than we had hoped, I can confidently say that our team developed not only on the field, but grew in integrity, character, and represented Jesus well!" 

Some of the key stat leaders this season were Kylie Brown with 1.2 goals per match and following her was Abigail Stipp with .8 goals per game. Abigail also led the team with an assist per game average of 0.3 assist per game. Melody Clauss performed well in the goal, with fifteen saves on the season.  

The team can also be proud of several members who earned All-region honors, which were announced on Friday, February 10th. Abi Higgins (Defense) was the only Trojan named to the All-Region first team and the All-Region second team included Abigail Stipp (Forward) Melody Clauss (Goalkeeper), Sydney Paschich (Midfield). Honorable mentions included Victoria Clark, Faith Dibley, Makayla Rosscup, Samantha Scott. Shout out to all the Trojan soccer teams who were recognized in region voting as well as all the other players who worked hard this season and added to the team's success.  

This is the end of the season for your favorite girls soccer team.