PIERRE – Aberdeen Central broke through at the biggest moment of the season on Tuesday afternoon.

After weeks of frustrating losses without a goal, the Golden Eagles came up with a clutch score in the closing minutes to take down Pierre 1-0 in the opening round of the Class AA girls’ soccer playoffs.

“This has probably been one of the worst years we’ve had in a long time during the regular season, but we talk about it all the time, you get to the playoffs, it’s whichever team gets on a roll, just makes things happen,” said Central coach Merle Aske, whose squad was seeded 14th entering the postseason. “We’ve been playing so well lately, just haven’t caught a break here or there to get that goal that we needed.”

That changed in a big way when Keyana Stillman found the back of the net in the 77th minute to give the Eagles the boost they needed.

“We got a really great look there at the end and Keyana was able to finish,” Aske said. “Realistically in a tight game like that, closing minutes that’s all you really need, is you get that goal and then you can just play the clock out.”

Central almost had a goal about 10 minutes earlier, but Addison Miller’s blast hit the top of the cross bar and bounced away.

“Miller hit the cross bar on that corner kick. She had a really good look,” Aske said. “It’s one of those things, the season we’ve had it would have been real easy for the girls to go, oh here we go again, hitting the crossbar and not getting a goal. They just kept after it.”

The teams finished with identical totals of 10 shots on goal, but Central came up big when it mattered most.

“We broke the pressure when we had to,” Aske said. “The girls did a good job on the back, Ava Beck made the saves she needed to make. We stayed organized enough to get the job done.”

After Central possessed the ball early, the Governors came out strong early in the second half.

“We played a really good first half and put a lot of pressure on them. They came out a little bit and tried to get after us the second half,” Aske said. “The girls did a goob job of just absorbing that pressure and getting the ball won, and then putting the pressure back on them.”

It’s a formula that the Eagles have used in recent games, but have often been unable to find the back of the net.

“That’s the way we’ve been playing lately. We’ve been outplaying a lot of teams, just haven’t got the result,” Aske said. “It’s nice to be able to outplay somebody and get the result, especially in the first round of the playoffs.”

Central will now play at Sioux Falls Roosevelt in the quarterfinals on Saturday.

The Golden Eagles are no stranger to success in the postseason, having played in the semifinals three of the last four years, including advancing to the state championship contest two years ago.

“We’ve made some deep runs the last two years. Some of these girls were on the field last year,” Aske said. “The biggest thing is, a lot of our eight seniors and our juniors, they’ve been around this program and they watch what happens when we get to the playoffs. They’re used to that feeling. Now, it’s just a matter of them being able to build off of that and keep the momentum going.”

Aberdeen Central 0 1 – 1

Pierre 0 0 – 0

First half: no scoring.

Second half: 1, Keyana Stillman (Kamryn Arnesen), 77th minute.

Shots: Aberdeen Central 21, 10 on goal; Pierre 20, 10 on goal.

Goalies: Aberdeen Central, Ava Beck (10 saves); Pierre, Emlyn Swanson (9 saves).