A free kick for Phoenix Scottsdale Christian Academy’s girls soccer team was costly for host Phoenix Northwest Christian on Thursday night (Jan. 9).

Freshman midfielder Kate Lawrence sent the ball high enough and deep enough to evade the grasp of the Northwest Christian goalkeeper midway through the first half, and SCA held on for a 1-0 victory in Division III play.

Northwest Christian kept the pressure on in the second half, but could not get the equalizer.

The result was similar to a Dec. 14 match between the teams, in which Northwest Christian kept the pressure on but SCA came away with a 2-1 win.

“I always try to tell the girls that defense can win you a championship and we played good defense,’’ said SCA coach Mike Philipp.

He also had words of praise for SCA freshman goalkeeper Grace Schreyer, who kept Northwest Christian off the board with solid play in the net.

“She is only a freshman and she is amazing. She keeps her composure. We wouldn’t be where we are without her,’’ said Philipp of his 7-2 team. The Eagles’ losses were to bigger schools in the Horizon Tournament to begin the season.

He added that Lawrence has scored similar goals on a couple of other occasions this season.

Schreyer made a big stop with 13 minutes left in the match. A shot by Northwest’s Madison Wisely was just off, hitting the crossbar with 9:20 left. Wisely did a good job trying to get the ball into scoring position for most of the match.

Shortly thereafter, Northwest Christian had a free kick but couldn’t connect as Schreyer tipped the ball up and over the back of the goal.

“It’s tough to dominate (ball control) the way we have in these two games and get this kind of result,’’ said Northwest Christian coach Jonathan Sang, whose team is 6-4.

“Life goes on, and there’s a lot of soccer left to be played for us.’’

Northwest Christian will be back in action right away on Friday (Jan. 10), playing in a tournament at Phoenix Country Day School. SCA will get a few days off before its next match, on Tuesday (Jan. 14) at Mesa Prep.