The Hollis Brookline girls soccer players celebrate their 1-0 Division II title win over Bow on Friday night at Exeter's Bill Ball Stadium. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

EXETER – The toughest one was also the best one.

To be sure, there wasn’t a more difficult game for the No. 1 Hollis Brookline High School girls soccer team all fall than Friday night’s Division II title game battle with No. 2 Bow at Exeter’s Bill Ball Stadium.

But it brought the best results, the Cavs’ 38th straight win to capture their second straight state championship, 1-0.

The win came on the strength of a rocket goal by Marleigh Kreick, assisted by Molly Reardon, nearly 24 minutes into the contest. And that was that. HB completed two consecutive 19-0 title years.

They did it led by a superior goal scorer and facilitator in McKenna Maguire, and she had some chances when the Cavs’ best defense in the last 15 minutes was their offense. But she was shadowed all night by Bow defender Abigale Foote. Still, the title was worth it.

“These last two years has honestly been unreal going undefeated the entire time,” Maguire said. “It (Kreick’s goal) let the pressure off us. We were tied for so long, it kept the game going.”

The irony is the Falcons followed the game plan and still fell short.

“Our strategy was to try to get someone else other than Makenna to beat us,” Falcons coach Jay Vogt said. “And we did it. That was a great shot that they scored on, we defended well, but we just didn’t create enough opportunities. We couldn’t get through their defense.”

Kreick actually almost made it 2-0 six minutes later but hit the crossbar, to the relief of Bow keeper Gwendolyn Barrieu (eight saves).

“I couldn’t have done it without my teammates,” Kreick said. “The whole buildup, Molly’s pass to me, all their hard work in the middle, I was a the top of the box and took a chance and just shot it.

“We went 37 games undefeated. Losing was not an option today, the pressure just kept going. We all wanted it so badly.”

But it was a struggle, until those final 15 minutes when HB peppered Barrieu, but to no avail. But that prevented the Falcons from mounting any kind of attack.

“The final game always has a different kind of pressure, just like last year with Coe-Brown,” Cavs coach Peter Clarke said. “Jay Vogt is a superb coach, that is a very good team. They came in here and absolutely knocked us off our game for the whole middle stretch. It wasn’t until the last 15-20 minutes that we got back on our game and looked like ourselves again. … We haven’t had anybody hang with us this long.”

More irony was the fact that a team known for its offense was able to celebrate due to its defense, led by Ellie Snoke and Cassidy Engle.

“That’s our hidden strength, and I think it’s one of our bigger strengths,” Clarke said. “They work as a group …It has to be hard to play against us because we don’t let people in. I was a defensive player, I prefer it, and this was the best high school defending unit I’ve ever seen.”

Hollis Brookline’s Kai Swart (10) and Rosalie DeSantis battle for the ball with Bow’s Abigail Foote, right, during Friday night’s Division II title game in Exeter. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

Hollis Brookline’s Kai Swart (10) and Rosalie DeSantis battle for the ball with Bow’s Abigail Foote, right, during Friday night’s Division II title game in Exeter. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

HB keeper Mya Blackman wasn’t challenged much this season but she came up with a couple of big saves last night. And in conclusion,she beat Bow’s Ashley Whalen to a loose ball outside the box right in the final seconds as the two collided.

Then it was time to get up and celebrate.

“I could see my kids feeling the pressure,” Clarke said. “But like I said before, they will find their way out, and they did. … We moved the ball around a little bit, we got attacking again and stayed in our groove. That was the difference. …Having two unbeaten seasons in a row, I think it’s a once in a lifetime thing.”

And that’s their legacy. Unbeaten champions yet again.