BATH — Penobscot Valley’s back line did its job and the Howlers won their second straight Class D girls soccer title with a 2-0 win over the Bucks on Saturday at McMann Field.

Penobscot Valley last year in St. He defeated Dom to win the Class D championship. The Howlers won back-to-back titles for the first time since their Class B title in 1986-87.

Rylee Moulton and Lila Cummings scored for Penobscot Valley to make it 16-2.

“Our defense is playing great,” Penobscot Valley coach Jeremy Durost said. “This was our 11th shutout of the year and most of the faces that made it are new starters this year compared to last year. The biggest thing we had to change from last year was defense.”

Durost praised the play of forward Tiana Grant, who pinned Buckfield’s Brittany Carrier all game long. Carrier has scored 46 goals this season; This included hat-tricks in his team’s play-off wins before Saturday.

Buckfield coach Annette Caldwell said the Howlers’ defenders kept the Bucks (15-2) at bay.

“We had a hard time getting past that defensive line,” said Caldwell, whose team was in its first state final since 1989 and playing for the first Golden Ball in program history. “They piled them on us and we had some opportunities but we couldn’t finish and they took advantage of some of the opportunities they had.”

Howlers controlled the tempo early in the first half and Moulton’s shot from the line found the back of the net in the eighth minute.

“Honestly, I got the ball and saw the gap and knew it was going to go in,” Moulton said. “I was really excited and obviously excited. The moment we scored that goal I knew we wouldn’t look back and luckily we didn’t. We kept the same urgency throughout the game and that’s a really good thing.”

Both teams had many scoring opportunities throughout the first half.

Penobscot Valley nearly made it 2-0 in the 30th minute on a free kick from outside the 18-yard box, but Buckfield goalkeeper Kianna Finnegan cleared the ball out of play.

Buckfield fired a shot at Penobscot Valley goalkeeper Brooklynn Raymond late in the first half, but she kept the score clean and finished with nine saves.

Buckfield’s Chloee Bennett takes a shot on goal against Penobscot Valley in Bath during the Class D State Championship on Saturday. Daryn Slover/Güneş Magazine

The Bucks had a chance to score at the start of the second half, but Howler’s defenders cleared the ball from outside the penalty area. Finnegan (eight saves) also made a crucial stop to keep the lead at 1-0.

Following a Penobscot Valley corner kick, the Howlers moved the ball to Lila Cummings, who drilled a line kick for a 2-0 advantage 11 minutes into the half.

“We also know our strengths, so when they got to me, I fired and it went in,” Cummings said.

Caldwell wasn’t worried about falling behind 1-0, but said the second score was a backbreaker.

“We knew they were a good team and they were going to score,” Caldwell said. “I didn’t think it was anything shocking for us or that it really put us behind because we’ve been behind before. “It was a little more difficult for us to score the second goal, especially at a time when we had difficulty putting the goal into the net.”

Buckfield had a scoring opportunity shortly after the next kickoff, but the shot went wide. The Bucks had a few more opportunities in the middle of the half but couldn’t capitalize. They found a position at the far post in the 24th minute, but the ball hit the air and was out of the game.

Buckfield controlled the game by keeping the ball at the offensive line in the last 10 minutes of the match, but could not open the gap.

“We were just trying to shoot, crash and rebound,” Caldwell said. “We were trying to shoot and then try to get someone to pick up their foot and put it on goal. And that didn’t seem possible for us tonight.”

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