TOPSHAM — Liza Lawson figured she was going to be a spectator during the penalty kick session that would determine her Waynflete girls’ soccer team’s season.

Instead, Lawson found herself front and center. And the sophomore was ready for the stage.

Lawson’s goal in the second round of penalty kicks clinched the Class C championship for Waynflete, lifting the Flyers to a 1-0 victory Saturday over Fort Kent that gave them their ninth state title overall, their fourth in Class C, and first since 2013.

“I thought the first five would get it in, we’d be good to go,” Lawson said. “When I turned around and saw everybody running toward me, I just started crying. It was so emotional.”

Waynflete (13-5) dominated possession and chances during regulation and overtime, but the Fort Kent defense and keeper Mia Voisine kept turning the Flyers away. Even a round of penalty kicks wasn’t enough; Lucy Hart, Naomi Rice and Grace Alexander scored for Waynflete, but Reese Doucette, Maddie Martin and Julia Cyr did the same for Fort Kent (16-2) to force another round.

In the second round, Paige Alexander, Morgan Earls and keeper Ayla Stutzman scored for the Flyers, and Stutzman made a save – her second of the session – to give Waynflete a 3-1 lead.

“I tried to just get my energy flowing,” Stutzman said. “We didn’t want it to end like that, but it was really exciting that it did.”

Lawson won it with a shot inside the right post.

“I was just thinking that it was nothing,” Lawson said. “I had to take it like it was an everyday, little thing. Otherwise, I would have stressed out too much.”

Carrie Earls, one of two Waynflete head coaches along with George Sherry, knew her sophomore could handle the moment.

“She doesn’t let outside factors affect her,” Earls said. “She had no idea it came down to her. I just told her to wait until the whistle, and then bury it.”

It was a harsh ending for the Warriors, who were seeking their second title after winning it all in 2018.

“I’m very happy with these girls. They played a hell of a season,” an emotional Fort Kent Coach Doug Cyr said. “They gave their heart all day. … They played amazing against a hard-fought Waynflete team. They held it together for 110 minutes. … I couldn’t be more proud.”

Fort Kent had to play most of the game on the defensive, however, as the Flyers found an extra gear late in the first half and kept sending wave after wave of pressure into the Warriors’ end. Several times, Waynflete came oh-so-close to the go-ahead score, the best chance being a Lucy Hart direct kick from 30 yards that hit the crossbar four minutes into the second overtime.

“We had to stay positive,” Hart said. “We had a bunch of chances and we kept trying to knock on the door. We just couldn’t finish.”

When the Flyers did put shots on target, Voisine took care of them. She made nine saves, including a full-out diving stop of a Hart shot with six minutes left in the second overtime.

“This was her game today,” Coach Cyr said. “(She) hasn’t really been tested. Today, she got tested, and if you were to give an MVP, it would be to her.”

Voisine got better as the pressure rose.

“I had to play for my team. They were working hard and I had to do my part,” she said. “I couldn’t let them score, because I knew if we let them score, then that was it for us. We weren’t ready.”

In the end, however, the moment belonged to the Flyers.

“Just seeing the (Gold) ball in our hands, my team’s hands, is a feeling that I can’t compare to anything right now,” Stutzman said. “Since last year, since we got knocked out, we wanted to take it one step farther. … It’s been the goal since we stepped on the field in June.”

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