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AUGUSTA — Cometh the biggest stage, cometh Karter Eldridge.

A year ago, Eldridge scored the winning goal in the Class C state title game as Hall-Dale earned its first boys soccer Gold Ball. What did the junior do for an encore in this year’s final? He did it again — in even grander fashion.

Eldridge’s goal with 11:23 left in the second overtime gave Hall-Dale a 1-0 victory over Orono on Saturday at Cony High School. The goal cemented back-to-back state titles for the Bulldogs, who had gone blow-for-blow with the Red Riots for nearly 100 minutes.

“It’s surreal, dude,” Eldridge said. “I don’t remember much of it; it was just an awesome moment scoring that goal, similar to last year. I’m really happy to have all my boys here to support me.”

The two teams generated little offense over the first 15 minutes. Each side then put some shots on target in a half that concluded with Landon Gilbert of Hall-Dale (15-1-2) making a sprawling save.

“My center backs and my outside backs were stopping a lot of those shots that could have been really dangerous on those back posts, and especially on those corners,” Gilbert said. “Them blocking out those angles and being able to stop all those side shots helps me be able to get right in the middle and collect.”

Hall-Dale fired a shot just high off a set piece 10 minutes into the second half before Gilbert made a tip save at the other end. The Bulldogs had the bulk of the opportunities for the rest of regulation but could not find a way through against the North champion Red Riots (16-1-1).

Orono recovered in overtime but squandered an opportunity on an open net midway through the first extra session. Eldridge then made the Red Riots pay, as he collected the ball on the edge of the penalty area and fired past a shot past goalkeeper Matt Allen.

“He has a knack for this, and I’m damn proud to have him on my squad,” Hall-Dale coach Jesse Rowe said. “You feel comfortable in these moments because you know you have a closer that can step up and deliver.”

Orono registered nine shots on goal to the Bulldogs’ seven.

The road to the title was far from certain for Hall-Dale, which graduated 13 players from last year’s team. Yet the Bulldogs had a penchant for coming through in tight games, beating Oak Hill and Mt. Abram 2-1 in the regional semifinals and final, respectively.

“Stress is something that only happens if you’re not prepared, but we’ve been preparing every day,” Rowe said. “That’s something we’ve built our program on, hard work and family and playing for our community. I’m proud of these boys because they played as a team, and that’s the only way you go back-to-back.”

Although it wasn’t Eldridge’s first state championship winner, it was much more dramatic than last year’s, which came with 24:10 left in the second half. Just as that game was a launching point for this one, Eldridge said, this year’s win could be a stepping stone for a 2026 Hall-Dale team that could return all but one player.

“We were hoping for this moment to go back-to-back months back — as soon as the last one,” Eldridge said. “We’ve been working for six months to get here, and we have a really good group of boys with great chemistry, so we hope to be back next year.”