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Bethesda-Chevy Chase senior forward Hannah Richardson is fast; she was part of the Class 3A champion 4x800-meter relay squad at last year's state indoor track championships and finished second in the 800 dash. Fortunately for the Barons' girls soccer squad, she's almost as fast with the ball at her feet.

Richardson exploded up the right side of the University of Maryland-Baltimore County field in the 27th minute of Thursday's Class 3A state championship game against Harford County's Fallston. Once she reached full velocity, the previously undefeated Cougars had little chance of catching her as she lofted an angled ball into the upper left corner of the net to send the Barons on their way to a 2-0 victory.

B-CC's 14th shutout of 2008 clinched its third state title — the last coming in 2004 — and sealed the Barons' first perfect season at 17-0. Thursday's loss was the only blemish on Fallston's record; the Cougars finished 17-1.

"Scoring first [Thursday] was extremely important; it alleviates the butterflies," B-CC coach Rob Kurtz said. "I knew once we scored one, we'd get another."

Richardson, who came off the bench to tally 6 goals and 4 assists this fall, isn't even the team's most well-known Hannah; That would be four-year leading scorer Hannah Cooper, who finished the year with 26 goals and 11 assists.

"Hannah Richardson is only a sub because I know when I put her in, wherever I put her in whatever position, she will bring us a lot of energy," Kurtz said. "She's a starter in my mind; at the end of the game, she's on the field."

The beauty of Barons soccer is the plethora of supporting cast members capable of making an impact. Freshman Kara Klontz finished a pass from freshman defender Hannah Levin in the 29th minute to put B-CC up 2-0 for good. It was Klontz's fourth goal of the year and Levin's second assist.

Though the title-winning victory broke a mini-drought, B-CC has been arguably the best team in the state the last four years. They have legitimate superstars in Cooper and U-15 U.S. National team midfielder Alex Doll (11 goals, 19 assists). But they were far from alone; the Barons scored a county-high 87 goals in '08.

Seventeen players netted at least one and six scored at least five goals: Cooper, Doll, Richardson, sophomore Victoria Gersh (11, 9) and junior Owyn Manson (8,6).

Four-year starting midfielders Zita DePetris and Hillary Goldman controlled the middle for B-CC, each tallying six assists.

Fallston had occasional opportunities in the second half Thursday, though the Barons dropped back and played a more counterattacking style in the game's latter stages. But as dominant as B-CC's offense is, its defense has been just as impressive.

It plays with just three in the back, but led by Levin, senior Charlotte Detchon, junior Mallory MacRostie and senior goalie Hannah Hoffman, they gave up just five goals all year. And they completely shut down Fallston's dangerous attack, which outscored opponents 73-11 this season.

"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."

B-CC will lose eight seniors this year, but they went out with a well-deserved bang.

"From the beginning of the year, I'd hoped we'd be able to go all the way," Cooper said. "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."