WORCESTER — It may not have been beautiful, but it's perfection can't be disputed.
The Peabody girls soccer team closed the books on the school's best season by reaching the ultimate goal with a 1-0 victory over East Longmeadow last night at Worcester State University's John F. Coughlin Field.
The state title is the school's first since the football team won the Super Bowl in 1993 and it's the first girls title since the basketball team won in 1985.
The Tanners (22-0-2) had plenty of scoring opportunities that they failed to capitalize on, but it seemed so fitting that senior Katie Brunelle produced the game's only goal with 3:26 left in the first half.
"It's right. It's almost like it's so right for her to score that goal," Peabody's sensational junior striker Hayley Dowd said. "She played a new position for us this year. She had never played center midfielder for us, but she's been working her butt off all year and getting that goal, especially in her senior year, is so special for her."
Dowd put tons of pressure on East Longmeadow in the first half, beating the defense several times and delivering crosses that never found a friendly foot.
Peabody easily controlled play in the first 40, but didn't score until Brunelle took advantage of a missed clearing opportunity by the Spartans' defense.
A shot that trickled in on East Longmeadow (18-3-1) goalie Anne Stack nearly slipped by, then the junior keeper attempted to clear the ball out to the other side of the field.
Brunelle was there waiting and drilled a shot into the net from just outside the box.
"I was honestly just in the right place at the right time," Brunelle said. "I played defense, got in the way and just booted it."
The way things were going, no one expected that to be the game's only goal.
Peabody continued to apply pressure in the second half, but the Tanners were unable to produce another tally. Meanwhile, East Longmeadow was playing with a renewed level of aggressiveness.
"It was a mistake," East Longmeadow coach Jenny Maurer said about Brunelle's goal. "Mistakes happen, but they bounced back and were able to get their heads in it (for the second half)."
The Spartans put a little more heat on the Tanners and Stack came up with a couple big stops, including two on breakaway chances for Dowd.
Even though East Longmeadow never had any great shots on Peabody goalie Caitlin Lodi, the Tanners had an uneasy feeling in the second half.
"I was concerned a little because we were getting all those chances and they weren't getting one," Dowd said. "One can squeak in and then it's tied. I was definitely a little hard on myself and telling myself that we had to get a goal or this could be a lot closer than we expected."
The Tanners defense, led by Cayla Bucci, Taylor Provost and Kara Digiacomo, did it's job to close out the game and secure the title.
"I'm so excited," Brunelle said. "We're going out with a bang."
Brunelle is one of only four seniors on the roster, however. So, naturally, talk turned to next year in the postgame conversation.
"Looking forward to next year, yeah we have a good core group back," Peabody coach Dennis Desroches said. "But I think we'll enjoy this one and have a nice bus ride home."
