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The Bethesda-Chevy Chase girls soccer team was up 2-0 in the first half of Thursday's Class 3A state final against Harford County's Fallston. But Barons coach Rob Kurtz was still nervously pacing the University of Maryland-Baltimore County sidelines.

"When you're up 2-0, that's the dangerous one; that's the score you don't want," Kurtz said. "Because then it's like 2-1, here we come. I was really pushing for that third goal in the first half."

Despite a plethora of chances, the Barons didn't get that third goal. But they did shut down the previously undefeated Cougars for the 2-0 win. B-CC's 14th shutout of 2008 clinched its third state title, the last coming in 2004, and sealed the Barons' first-ever perfect season at 17-0.

"From the beginning of the year I'd hoped we'd be able to go all the way," said four-year leading scorer Hannah Cooper, who ended the year with 26 goals and 11 assists. "I thought we would get here last year; it was really disappointing to lose in the regional final. We had the skill and chemistry this year and we really stepped it up in playoffs."

Two minutes was all it took for B-CC to knock Fallston (17-1) out of Thursday's final. The Barons controlled the pace the majority of the time and took a 1-0 lead in the 26th minute when senior Hannah Richardson perfectly lofted an angled ball into the upper left corner of the net.

One minute, 57 seconds later, freshman defender Hannah Levin rolled a pass to classmate Kara Klontz, who flicked a left-footed shot just inside the right post to give the Barons a 2-0 lead.

The Cougars, trailing for the first time all year, couldn't recover.

"We had a tough time [Thursday] night," Fallston senior forward Monica Fischer, who finished the year with 16 goals and 19 assists, said. "B-CC is probably the strongest team we faced all year. They possessed the ball well and we couldn't contain them. We kept chasing and we couldn't get our formation together. They played really quick and they knew where they were putting every ball."

Fallston had a few opportunities in the second half; the Barons dropped back and played a more counterattacking style late Thursday. But as dominant as B-CC's offense is — having scored 87 goals — its defense has been just as impressive.

The Barons play with only three in the back, but led by Levin, senior Charlotte Detchon, Mallory MacRostie and goalie Hannah Hoffman, they've given up only 5 goals. And they completely shut down Fallston's dangerous attack, which outscored opponents 73-11 this fall.

"Our defense has been superior this season," Kurtz said. "They've allowed an extremely low amount of goals [and] shut out most of our opponents. And to play with only three in the back is extremely uncommon at this level …

"Scoring first [Thursday] was extremely important. It alleviates the butterflies. I knew once we scored one, we'd get another."