CHESTERTOWN — No. 12 North Carroll beat Fallston, 2-1, to defend its Class 1A state crown Saturday behind some timely offense and rock-solid defense, which had been the Panthers' forte all fall.
Junior forward Jensyn Koontz knocked in the game-winner in the second half and North Carroll's defense did the rest in denying Fallston a 15th state championship.
"I'm very speechless right now," coach Denean Koontz said, with tears in her eyes and black paint on her cheeks after hugging each Panther during the trophy ceremony. "I'm just so proud of these kids. And that's the only way I can describe it."
North Carroll overcame its first deficit of the postseason when Fallston (10-8-1) scored on an early penalty corner by freshman midfielder Kyle Ryan, then changed the flow of the game in the second half with a faster-paced, pressure-packed assault on the Cougars' defense.
It paid off when Jensyn Koontz got her stick on a loose ball during a scramble inside the circle with 16:30 to go. Fallston goalie Caitlin Phillips tried to clear the ball, but Koontz spotted an opening.
"You have to get it back," Koontz said about momentum. "You can't get down on yourselves."
Before that, junior forward Zoe Rosner scored on an assist from Meghan Harmon in the first half. The goal took away some of Fallston's rhythm, and the Cougars never really got it back.
"I thought that we were a little tentative in the second half more than anything else," said longtime Fallston coach Alice Puckett. "We were kind of, like, statue-like at times, for a lack of a better word."