St. Mary's coach Jerry Tobin is quick to give credit to this year's senior class as the foundation for the No. 5 Saints' domination in the demanding Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland A Conference during the past three years.

And from there, time and time again, he'll add that the stellar play of defender Ashly Kennedy has been the backbone.

Fittingly, it was Kennedy who provided the biggest touch in yesterday's championship game at Mount Washington against No. 6 Notre Dame Prep, a heavy shot from 22 yards in overtime that gave the Saints a 2-1 win and their third consecutive IAAM crown.

The Saints (15-2-1) overcame a handful of injuries early, didn't practice or play any games for nearly two weeks because of the sniper attacks in the Washington area and then had five players on the field sick with colds the past of couple of days. Still, they found their way through.

"It makes it that much more rewarding - we made a difference," said Kennedy, who will play at Maryland next fall. "Early in the season, we were hurt, but we had something to prove and we did it. These girls worked so hard for it."

The Blazers (14-2) were making their first championship appearance after falling in the semifinals the previous four years. They provided the defending champions with a quality push, getting an early second-half goal from junior Zoe Bouchelle to tie the game at 1 and then getting some more chances for a potential go-ahead goal.

It never came.

Instead, with 36 seconds left in the first 10-minute overtime period, Kennedy found unexpected time and space just above the penalty area and let one go up high in the middle that keeper Heather McArthur couldn't keep out of the net.

"I knew I would either work a give-and-go with Sarah [Sample] or turn if I had my own shot. I was confident taking my shot and I was like 'I'm going to strike it.' That was my first goal of the season - awesome - I started crying I couldn't believe it," Kennedy said.

It was St. Mary's with the ball for most of the first half, and the reward came from Sample, who, from the right side of the field, found the opposite corner from 30 yards for the 1-0 lead.

The game changed after Bouchelle's finish with the Blazers getting to the ball quicker to play on more even terms in the second half. Midway through the second half, she had a shot deflect off a St. Mary's defender and hit the post before keeper Marie Oben got on it. At the other end, McArthur made a diving save on a shot from Mary Key in close.

"The whole season we've been a second-half team. We had an intense halftime speech, came out and picked it up," said Bouchelle, who scored three goals in the Blazers' 5-4 overtime win against McDonogh in Friday's semifinal. "St. Mary's is a very good team, so I'm proud anyway - we played well."

The more experienced Saints won out in the end, getting the goal from Kennedy and then holding the Blazers off in the second 10-minute overtime session to leave Mount Washington Club field with another crown.

"Nobody competes harder, and they've learned to win over the past few years. It carries on," Tobin said. "They faced a lot of adversity, and to do what they've done is amazing."

B Conference

Maryvale Prep 3, Severn 1: Maryvale got two goals from senior Emily Vitrano and 13 saves from Lauren Wegener for the championship.

The Lions took a 3-0 lead with senior Ena van den Berg opening the scoring with a penalty kick before Vitrano went to work.

Nicky Schmidlein scored the Admirals' goal off an assist by Brionna Ned. Erin McCord had nine saves for Severn.