Last year, the Southwest Christian girls soccer team got its first-ever taste of competing in a state tournament, but fell short in the semifinals. Instead of entering this fall with that loss pinned on a vision board as motivation, head coach Mark Anderson said they largely tried to ignore it.

"We don't talk a lot about winning," Anderson said. "We talk about playing a certain way and approaching the game a certain way."

The chance of booking back-to-back trips was impossible to ignore as the No. 1 Stars finished regulation and overtime tied 0-0 against No. 3 Watertown-Mayer in the Class 1A Section 6 final last Tuesday.

"I'd be lying to you if I said I wasn't thinking about state at that point," Anderson said. "What I tell every single [one of the] 22 players, 'Every one of you from 12 yards away can hit an eight-yard-by-eight-foot goal.'"

And All-State goalkeeper Saraphina Bettin can save one of those shots. She clinched the team's penalty shootout win to continue Southwest Christian's undefeated 17-0-1 season. The Stars, seeded first, will face Pine Island/Zumbrota-Mazeppa on Thursday at Eden Prairie.

A tight draw isn't common for the Stars. This season, they outscored opponents 87-6 and won by three or more goals in all but three of their games. Four players have reached double-digit goals this season: Maya Johnson, Isabella Travis, Gisella Harder and Aubrey Burkhart. Travis, Johnson and Burkhart also earned Class 1A All-State honors, and Harder is an indispensable midfielder who plays from first to final whistle and "never stops running," said Anderson.

The Stars likely won't get that margin of victory at state. To prepare for closer games against stiff competition, the team breaks the season into chunks and tries to set goals, rather than just score them. Pass and control the ball. Switch the field. Control the space.

"At first, the kids didn't like that, because they just wanted to keep going forward," Anderson said. "I explained to them that it's worth three or four or five practices to actually be in live competition."

At the start of the season, each player received a printed card detailing the team's 12 core values. Twelve players each take a value and explain its meaning to the team. The value that reflects this season most? Details may seem small, but add up to a big effect, Anderson said.

"We practice minutiae that outsiders might laugh at, but you name it, we practice it," he said.

Including penalty kicks. Anderson remembers telling the team after its 1-1 draw against Watertown-Mayer in September — the only blemish on its regular-season record — that "I've coached a long time, and there are two games that stick out as the most exciting games, and that was one of them. You'll remember that game forever.'"

"Fast-forward three weeks, and I said, 'Okay, I think we just one-upped our previous game.'"

Quarterfinals schedule

Boys 1A:

No. 1 St. Paul Academy vs St. Croix Prep, Wednesday 7:30 p.m. at Farmington

No. 2 St. Cloud Cathedral vs Marshall School (Duluth), Thursday 7:30 p.m. at Monticello

No. 3 Rochester Lourdes vs Fridley, Thursday 5:30 p.m. at Kuhlman Stadium (Edina Community Center)

No. 4 Breck School vs Pine Island/Zumbrota-Mazeppa, Thursday 7:30 p.m. at Eden Prairie

Boys 2A:

No. 1 Academy of Holy Angels vs Northfield, Tuesday 7:30 p.m. at Eden Prairie

No. 2 Totino-Grace vs St. Cloud Tech, Wednesday 7:30 p.m. at Monticello

No. 3 Blake vs Cloquet/Esko/Carlton (CEC), Wednesday 7:30 p.m. at White Bear Lake

No. 4 Orono vs Mankato East, Thursday 7:30 p.m. at Spring Lake Park

Boys 3A:

No. 1 Minneapolis Washburn vs Bemidji, Wednesday 5:30 p.m. at Monticello

No. 2 Maple Grove vs Rochester Mayo, Tuesday 7:30 at White Bear Lake

No. 3 Minnetonka vs Andover, Tuesday 5:30 p.m. at Kuhlman Stadium (Edina Community Center)

No. 4 Eagan vs No. 5 Woodbury, Tuesday 7:30 p.m. at Farmington

Girls 1A:

No. 1 Southwest Christian vs Pine Island/Zumbrota-Mazeppa, Thursday 5:30 p.m. at Eden Prairie

No. 2 Providence Academy vs Concordia Academy, Wednesday 7:30 p.m. at Spring Lake Park

No. 3 St. Charles vs St. Paul Academy, Wednesday 5:30 p.m. at Farmington

No. 4 St. Cloud Cathedral vs No. 5 Esko, Thursday 5:30 p.m. at Monticello

Girls 2A:

No. 1 Academy of Holy Angels vs Byron, Tuesday 5:30 p.m. at Eden Prairie

No. 2 Mahtomedi vs St. Francis, Thursday 7:30 p.m. at Kuhlman Stadium (Edina)

No. 3 Mankato East vs St. Cloud Tech, Thursday 5:30 p.m. at Spring Lake Park

No. 4 Cloquet/Esko/Carlton (CEC) vs No. 5 Orono, Wednesday 5:30 p.m. at White Bear Lake

Girls 3A:

No. 1 Wayzata vs St. Michael-Albertville, Tuesday 7:30 p.m. at Kuhlman Stadium (Edina)

No. 2 East Ridge vs Maple Grove, Tuesday 5:30 p.m. at White Bear Lake

No. 3 Edina vs Duluth East, Wednesday 5:30 p.m. at Spring Lake Park

No. 4 Eagan vs No. 5 Lakeville North, Tuesday 5:30 p.m. at Farmington