No. 6 Perry Hall knew the one Centennial player it needed to stop was center back Lauren Molinaro.
The Gators knew it, but they couldn't do much about it.
Molinaro scored the first goal and assisted Michelle Clare for the second to lead No. 3 Centennial to a 2-1 victory for the Class 3A/4A state championship last night at North County High.
The Eagles (18-0) become the first team to win three titles in the six-year history of the Maryland state girls soccer championships. It was their third title in four years.
Perry Hall (14-3) got the jump on Centennial early with a handful of chances, including two corner kicks in the first six minutes. But the Eagles' defense held up under pressure in the first 18 minutes.
The Eagles had not trailed in a game all season, and they weren't about to start in the finale.
Molinaro, an Olympic Development Program national pool player, turned a broken corner play into a goal in the 19th minute. After the Gators' defense headed out Shara Boonshaft's corner kick, Molinaro reeled in the carom. Instead of going to Boonshaft all alone near the corner, she turned and blasted a shot over a row of Perry Hall defenders.
Gators keeper Stephanie Koman, who finished with seven saves, leaped but could not knock it down.
Just four minutes into the second half, Molinaro fed Michelle Clare for a 2-0 lead. From about 40 yards out, Molinaro passed to Clare, the Eagles' scoring leader with 22 goals, setting her up one-on-one with Koman.
"Molinaro is probably the best player I've seen in the state -- super fast and great skills," said Perry Hall coach Frank Insinga. "We tried to negate her with Jessa [Phoebus] and let the other 10 do their thing. It almost worked."
Both teams finished with 10 shots, but the Gators did not get on the board until midway through the second half although they narrowly missed on three shots that just went wide. In a drizzling rain, Centennial keeper Rima Sidhu lost her grip on a ball heading over the end line setting up a Perry Hall corner kick. Phoebus lofted the ball perfectly in front of the nets, where Jessica Loehr headed it in.
"They were putting pressure on for five minutes before that," said the Eagles' only senior, Shara Boonshaft. "That goal made us realize we needed to be safer. Actually, we weren't even having any offense then. We were playing too defensively. We were just kicking it out and they were there and they would just attack right back in our face."
After the Gators' goal, Centennial moved back on offense for much of the rest of the half.
The Eagles got another strong effort from a defense that has racked up 10 shutouts. Sweeper Tania Riismandel and back Sarah Bartholomew each turned back several Gators threats.
For the Gators, Koman turned in another strong effort. She saved four Centennial first-half shots including a couple of long-range bullets from Boonshaft and Amy Richter late in the half.
Until last night, only three teams had managed to score against the Gators defense and Koman, who recorded 10 shutouts including a 1-0 win over Severna Park in the semifinal.
This may not be the playoff last meeting for these two teams since each one graduates just one starting freshman.