How’s this for a storybook ending to a high school career: Your senior captain, a defender, scores her first career goal to win the state championship.

Olivia Ruhlin penned that story Saturday night.

Ruhlin unleashed a hard shot from the top of the 18-yard box in the 67th minute to send Sacopee Valley to a 1-0 victory over Fort Kent in the Class C girls’ soccer final at Deering High.

The goal came off a rebound created by McKenzie Murphy’s second straight corner kick from the right of the goal.

“It’s a dream come true, there’s no other feeling like it,” Ruhlin said. “I can’t describe it. I turned and saw my little sister (Helen, a defender), and I felt indescribable happiness.”

The goal came after a dominating performance by the Hawks (14-3-3), who entered the tournament seeded seventh in Western C and reached the title game with wins over No. 8 Traip (2-0), No. 2 Monmouth Academy (2-1), No. 6 and two-time defending state champion Waynflete (2-1) and No. 5 Maranacook (2-0).

“Sacopee played really well, possessed well out of the back and they sustained quite a bit of pressure,” Fort Kent Coach Robby Nadeau said. “When you do that, one’s eventually going to pop through. They were very determined. They really wanted it here tonight and it showed.”

The Hawks’ most obvious strength was along the spine of its formation: sweeper Jade Jordan, Ruhlin at stopper, Murphy at center midfielder and Courtney Ryan at center forward. They dominated the central lanes from box to box, disrupting the Warriors before they could string more than three passes together, and keeping the pressure on in Fort Kent’s end.

Sacopee controlled play from the start, outshooting Fort Kent 27-7 and holding an 8-1 edge in corner kicks. Hawks keeper Madison Day made four saves.

“We won’t beat you in a foot race, that’s not us,” Coach Kevin Murphy said, “but we do back each other up well. We work on that so much, being the first, second, third defender. We do a nice job of that in the middle of the field. It’s a testament to how hard these girls play. We didn’t get rattled or worried. I said, ‘Girls, it will come.’ And that was a storybook goal. That thing was screaming past that post.”

The Warriors’ back line of Sadie Desjardins, Jessica Morin, Kendra Raymond and Erin Chasse did just enough to hold the Hawks at bay, playing well in front of keeper Alexia Pelletier (11 saves).

Strong defending is nothing new for Fort Kent (10-5-3), the No. 3 seed in Eastern C that advanced with wins over No. 6 Piscataquis Community (6-1), No. 2 seed and defending regional champion Orono (2-1) and top seed Houlton (1-0 on penalty kicks).

This was the Warriors’ third straight deep run. In 2012 the Warriors reached the state final before falling 3-2 in two overtimes to Waynflete. In 2013, Fort Kent advanced to the Eastern final before falling to Orono, 2-1.

Saturday’s game marked a steady four-year progression for the Hawks, who beat Fort Kent 2-1 in the 2010 state final. Sacopee Valley was eliminated in the preliminary round in 2011, reached the regional quarterfinals in 2012 and the regional final in 2013.

“I remember watching Sacopee Valley beat Fort Kent for the state title in 2010,” Ryan said. “I remember thinking that could be me and my team someday. And here it is. It just feels like everything has paid off.”

Thanks in no small part to first-time scorer Ruhlin.

“I wouldn’t want it to have been anybody else,” McKenzie Murphy said. “It’s a perfect ending.”