DAPHNE, Ala. — Daphne soccer coach Rick Andrew knew his 2011 girls had what they needed to return to the state final-four tournament. All he had to do was get them to prove it to themselves. Monday, they did.

The Lady Trojans’ relentless pressure finally broke through the Northview defense in the third-round playoff match at Jubilee Stadium for a 2-0 Daphne win. The 20th victory of the year sends them to Huntsville for the second-straight year.

“I think last year, the final four was almost expected of us,” Andrew said. “This year, nobody expected anything from these girls. To win 20 games and make a back-to-back appearance with a different team and in a different way shows a lot for them. They find ways to win. Now we’ve got to do it again.”

Daphne faces Auburn (14-7) Friday at 6 p.m. in the semifinal round.

After a scoreless first half in which Daphne had out shot the Cougars 11-to-2, Brianna Heiss headed Emily Baggett’s corner kick just 87 seconds into the second for the first DHS goal. A few minutes later, Heiss sent a long forward pass to Amanda Patton who centered the ball and touched it to the right post where Elizabeth Heiss drew the NHS keeper before making a back-angled cross to McKayla Riley on the left side for the second score. Sylvia Skultety got the shutout in goal.

“I felt like we were right there knocking,” Andrew said, adding that he told his players at the half to keep up the pressure. “When the ball’s on the line, you’ve got to put it in the net. I told them we were going to have some chances. We’re going to put it in the net and things will get better. And boom, the first header Brianna had was beautiful and then followed up with McKayla who hit it in off some nice inside passing.”

Andrew said facing the 14-7 Auburn Tigers will be challenging.

“Auburn is very, very good. So we will have to be ready and play hard. We’ll have a couple days to practice then it's time to go.”