When it was all over a sizable number of players made a beeline for Bellevue Christian Vikings goalie David Postma for a celebration of epic proportions.

Postma, who corralled a multitude of saves in the district title game against the Klahowya Eagles, made a difficult save diving to the ground on the lower left side to deflect a Klahowya shot on goal with five minutes left in regulation.

The Vikings were able to fend off the frantic Eagles rally and held on for a 1-0 win in the Class 1A West Central District III championship game on May 14 in Orting. The Vikings clinched a berth at the Class 1A state soccer tournament with the victory. Postma has surrendered just one goal in the past 11 games between the posts. Bellevue Christian team captain Bennett Close broke a scoreless 0-0 tie in the 70th minute with a shot from 30 yards out, giving his team a 1-0 lead they wouldn’t relinquish for the remainder of the game.

Bellevue Christian head coach Dave Westburg said Close’s shot past Klahowya goalie Kasey Trask was a thing of beauty.

“He hit right over the top of the best goalie we have seen all year,” Westburg said. “Bennett is an MVP player and that was an MVP goal. He put the team on his back and said we’re going to win this.”

Close credited the Vikings stingy defense led by Dylan Parsons (defender), Ricky Hatate (defender) and Postma for the victory.

“I think our back four did great. Dylan and Ricky were just awesome in the center of the field. They are so physical and solid back there. Dylan was outrunning their forwards all game long. That really helped us,” Close said.

Parsons said the Vikings were prepared for Klahowya’s “kick and run” style of offense.

“What Ricky (Hatate) and I tried to do in the back was stagger ourselves,” Parsons said. “One of us would pressure the ball high and other one would play the through ball. We were able to stop everything right there. It was all about trying to stay aggressive, put pressure on them and let them make mistakes that we could capitalize on.”

The Vikings are looking forward to the Class 1A state tournament. In 2014, they were eliminated in the quarterfinals.

“We’ve been pumped about this (state tournament) since our season ended last year,” Parsons said. “The team camaraderie is amazing. We are all super tight. We know nothing is going to be given to us. We’re going to work hard and see what we can do.”

The Bellevue Christian team motto, “1-1-30” is still completely intact.

“We got the 1 for first in league, we got the 1 for winning districts. Now we are gunning for May 30,” Westburg said.

May 30 is the day the Class 1A state soccer championship game will be played at Sunset Chev Stadium in Sumner.

Shaun Scott: 425-453-5045; sscott@bellevuereporter.com