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

Penobscot Valley defeated St. Dom’s last year to win the Class D title. The Howlers won consecutive titles for the first time since they captured Class B crowns in 1986-87.

Rylee Moulton and Lila Cummings scored for Penobscot Valley (16-2).

“Our defense has been playing great,” Penobscot Valley coach Jeremy Durost said. “That was our 11th shutout of the year, and a lot of the faces that are doing it are new starters this year from what we had last year. The defense was the biggest thing we had to change from last year.”

Durost praised the play of forward Tiana Grant, who marked Buckfield’s Brittany Carrier for the entire game. Carrier scored 46 goals this season, including hat tricks in each of her team’s playoff wins before Saturday.

Buckfield coach Annette Caldwell credited the Howlers’ defenders with keeping the Bucks (15-2) at bay.

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

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

“Honestly, I got the ball and I just saw the space and I knew it was going in,” Moulton said. “I was really excited and obviously pumped. I knew once we got that one goal, we weren’t gonna look back and luckily we didn’t. We kept the same urgency throughout the game, which is really good.”

Both teams got numerous scoring chances throughout the first half.

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

Buckfield had shots on Penobscot Valley keeper Brooklynn Raymond late in the first half, but she kept the sheet clean and finished the game with nine saves.

Buckfield’s Chloee Bennett shoots on goal Saturday during the Class D State Championship against Penobscot Valley in Bath. Daryn Slover/Sun Journal

The Bucks had a scoring chance early in the second half, but the Howler defenders cleared the ball out of the box. Finnegan (eight saves) also made a key stop to keep the deficit 1-0.

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

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

Caldwell wasn’t concerned about being down 1-0, but the second tally was the backbreaker, she said.

“We knew they were a good team and that they were going to score,” Caldwell said. “I didn’t feel that that was something that was a shock to us, or really set us back because we’ve come from behind before. The second goal was a little more hard for us to take, especially when we were having a hard time getting it in the net.”

Buckfield got a scoring opportunity shortly after the following kickoff, but the shot went wide. The Bucks had a few more opportunities midway through the half but couldn’t convert. They had a chance at the far post in the 24th minute, but the ball was knocked into the air and out of play.

Buckfield controlled the play in the game’s final 10 minutes by keeping the ball in the offensive end, but couldn’t break through.

“We were just trying to shoot and get to crash and get a rebound,” Caldwell said. “We were trying to get a shot in and then have somebody be able to get a foot on it and put it in the goal. And it just didn’t seem to happen for us tonight.”