Chalk it up! St. Scholastica Academy’s Doves notched another Louisiana High School Athletic Association Division I state soccer title Saturday edging the Mount Carmel Academy Cubs in an epic 2-1 battle being decided after four overtime periods and a penalty kick shootout.

SSA (14-7-1), the No. 12 seed, captured its second consecutive title on the strength of senior Camille Shepherd’s successful penalty kick. Shepherd took the Doves’ seventh PK in the shootout and buried her shot blistering the ball past Mt. Carmel junior goalkeeper Abby Massengale, who was phenomenal throughout the match. The championship contest was played at Independence Stadium in Shreveport.

Shepherd, a standout defensive player for the Doves, perfectly placed shot going upper left found the back of the net to put SSA in its winning position.

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Shepherd talked about the PK and said she tried to avoid putting any extra pressure on herself.

“In practice, when I take them I always have a smile on my face and I’m always laughing, thinking I’ll never be in that situation. I went up with the straightest face I could form. I just took it and held my breath. When I saw it go in I was just like I did it,” Shepherd said.

“When I placed the ball down, I thought oh my gosh, I have golden goal here. I’ve never been under that much stress to know that all eyes were on me,” Shepherd added.

“Thank goodness I was able to come through. As a senior, it was the best thing I could ever hope for.”

SSA junior goalkeeper Sara Kuebel took care of business following Shepherd’s successful PK. Kuebel guessed correctly and turned away Mt. Carmel’s seventh kicker, tipping the ball away.

Kuebel talked about being nervous before Mt. Carmel’s seventh shooter stepped in.

“I knew if I could stop the shot we would win. I wanted to do it for my team. We worked hard all year and I wanted to give it to them. I guessed right,” Kuebel said.

“Coming from a season that nobody thought we would be in a state championship and to win it, is amazing. Our seniors were an inspiration to us day-in and day-out. We wanted to do it for them,” Kuebel added.

SSA fourth-year head coach Mike Ortner talked about how focused his 12th seeded team was coming in to defend their state title.

“This year’s championship has a special undertone to it. Some would say the more you win they take less meaning, but this is a special one from where we started out. To be a 12th seed and I felt that we were maybe seeded lower than what we were, but at the same time we didn’t give coaches a reason to seed us any higher,” Ortner said.

“We knew during the season that we were capable of being this team and it is a definitely a real sweet championship,” Ortner said.

Ortner talked about the contributions of his six seniors including Shepherd’s heroics on her game-winning PK.

“For Camille to be a contributor since she was a freshman and then to be a back to come in and hit the game-winner is huge. She wanted the seventh shot and told me that when we went into the second round. I had already decided on No. six being Brittany (Bosarge). She looked me in the eye and said I want No. 7. You want the player that has the confidence and wants the pressure on their back. It was a great PK and to do it under those circumstances is really tough,” Ortner recalled.

Ortner praised the play of Kuebel coming up so big in the PK shootout.

“I told Sara to just react and save what she could. She was huge for us. To be put under those circumstances as a first year starter as a junior proved her worth.” Ortner added.

SSA and Mt. Carmel proved to be two evenly matched squads as they showed determination and heart throughout the 80-minutes of regulation play followed by two 10-minute overtimes and two five-minute periods leading up to the gut-wrenching penalty kick shootout.

SSA managed to punch through a goal in the fifth minute of a clearly defensive struggle with junior Emily Descant, the championship match MVP, putting home a goal after receiving a perfectly placed cross from senior Elise Gagnon. Doves’ senior Danielle Beatty, who will be attending the University of Southern Mississippi after graduation, worked the ball the ball up the middle into Mt. Carmel territory, and found Gagnon, who was rushing up the right side.

Descant shared her thoughts on the victory and about being named the MVP.

“I feel really great. I didn’t expect it, but it is a wonderful feeling to be recognized. I felt like the whole team equally could have won the award. We worked hard as a team to win the championship,” Descant said.

Mt. Carmel (28-6), the No. 6 seed, was the aggressor with a solid passing game and had more offensive opportunities taking nine corner kicks during regulation play. The Cubs regained their early offensive momentum following Descant’s goal. Mt. Carmel tied the contest in the 17th minute when sophomore Margaux Fontana answered with a goal from about 25 yards out. Kuebel was in position to apparently make the play, but the ball skipped just under her and made its way into net tying things at 1-1.

Mt. Carmel senior Alanna Divitorio, sophomore Brooke Gros and freshman Kristen Delaune made effective runs against the SSA defense and kept the ball in the Doves’ end of the field for the majority of the contest.

Ortner credited Mt. Carmel with being a great possession team.

“We knew they were probably going to out possess us going in. We didn’t want their dangerous players No. 11 and 21 up top to get in behind us. We wanted to keep their shots from distance. We saw what Divittorio could do when she got inside of Mandeville in the semifinals. We wanted to keep her as far away from the goal as possible. I thought we succeeded in that,” Ortner added.

SSA’s defense, which had registered four quality shutouts en route to the championship match, was up to the challenge and did a solid job turning away a number of quality Mt. Carmel shot attempts and numerous corner kicks.

Ortner highlighted the key play of Kuebel in the clutch and said his defensive back line played great.

“A team is only as good as its defense. Giving up just one goal in five games against four top 10 teams is a huge accomplishment. I can’t tell you enough about how proud I am of those five ( Kuebel, Shepherd, Natalie Childress, Lindsay Achary and Lauren Salles).

SSA’s Beatty summed up the Doves’ second consecutive championship this way.

“Oh my God. It’s amazing. To end my senior year like this is incredible. Our team’s spirits are so high. Getting ready to attend Southern Miss with everything being on such an emotional high and still having my club season to go (Mandeville Soccer Club Lakers) I’m not sure there is anything else I can say,” Beatty said.

Beatty an instrumental part in her team’s offense throughout the season put the Doves’ up 1-0 in the PK shootout knocking home the first penalty kick.

“I kind of had a song going through my head the whole time, so I don’t psych myself out with the keeper. I stayed focused and put my shot in. It was so intense during the shootout,” Beatty added.

Beatty described Mt. Carmel as a tough competitor.

“They gave it their all. They wanted it just as bad as we did. The final save by Sara (Kuebel) was huge. We ended our season perfectly,” Beatty remarked.

Injured senior Kim Belmont, who has also signed to attend USM, was unable to play due to suffering her second ACL injury.

Belmont, a fiery competitor was the Doves’ vocal, enthusiastic cheerleader constantly urging her teammates on throughout the season making her presence felt along the sidelines.

“It’s amazing. We can’t believe it. We are so excited about it. We’ve been preparing for it all year. Now the seniors have three state championships in four years. We are so excited. We love it,” Belmont exclaimed.

“Mt. Carmel was great. They fought the whole way. They are very skilled players. Individually they are very strong and fast. They definitely gave us a run for our money,” Belmont added.

Coach Ortner said Belmont’s worth to the team is more than anybody would ever know or realize.

“Kim Belmont is probably the player who wanted it the most that couldn’t step out onto the field, Kim is that cheerleader and is a player that everybody respects and looks to. I think a lot of our girls wanted to win it for Kim and Danielle (Beatty) and the rest of the seniors. They wanted to send them out how last year’s seniors got to go. The players wanted to give that same gift to them.” Ortner said.

Ortner credited Belmont with an assistant helping to save his voice during the course of the game because she was yelling out instructions from start to finish.

Assistant coach Keith Duet, the Doves JV coach and father of SSA freshman Lucy Duet, talked about the championship match.

“The emotion that the players and coaches went through during the game was undescribable. It was absolutely unbelievable. The teams were very evenly matched. It was a tremendous feeling to come out on top after such a hard fought game,” Duet said.

Hotard motor coach operator Vernon Richards of New Orleans had the privilege of driving the bus for the Doves this season just as he did last year for their championship. Before departing the SSA campus on Friday morning for the drive to Shreveport, Richards told the Doves’ players that he only drives for champions. The Doves came through in championship form soaring to their second consecutive Division I title.