BRANDON – It was a tale of two halves Saturday in the Class A Girls’ Soccer State Championship game.

Tea Area scored three goals in the first 15 minutes of the second half to break a scoreless tie on the way to defeating Groton 3-1 for its second straight state crown. The contest marked a stark contrast in programs as the Titans were making their seventh appearance in a title game, while it was Groton’s first ever chance to play for a state championship.

“No matter what, whether it was first half, second half, our girls played hard. I’m so proud of how they played,” said Groton coach Chris Kucker. “Being first time at the state tournament, state championship, what more could you have asked from the girls? We poured our heart and soul out on the field.”

Kucker said while it hurts to come up just short of securing a state title, the fact that the program reached that stage is extremely satisfying.

“I get it, a loss is a loss, and I hate losing just as much as the next person, but if I have to lose in a state championship when we’ve never been there, and knowing the history of the program, for me it is kind of an emotional roller coaster,” Kucker said. “I do go back a lot to where we came from, where we got to and where we’re at now. It’s a whole seven-year progression that has just transpired.”

The two teams battled to a scoreless first 40 minutes with neither side have many scoring chances.

That all changed when play resumed in the second half as the Titans took control.

Cate Giles scored on a penalty kick five minutes into the half and that changed the whole momentum of the contest. From there, the Titans played a controlled game and worked for high-percentage shots that they cashed in on with two more goals in the following 10 minutes to break the game open.

“They really are very disciplined,” Kucker said. “They will make you make mistakes. Not that we made huge mistakes, but we played a lot of chase.”

Kucker said the Titans have the ability to maintain possession and work the ball around until they feel they have an advantage and then explode on the goal.

“Once they got that goal then it became very apparent that hey, we’re going to play around back here,” Kucker said. “And then we’re just going to strategically, we’re going to play around, play around, play around, play around, play around and then all of a sudden we’re going to mount this massive attack, and we’re going to move forward and go, and when we do, you better be ready.”

The Tigers were able to get on the scoreboard when Jerica Locke put a shot on goal that deflected off the Tea Area goalkeeper, then bounced off a defender into the back of the net.

Kucker said it was important to get that goal.

“I think anytime when you’re at this level you want to perform,” Kucker said. “All year long, you’ve been putting things in the back of the net.”

However, there were few other prime scoring opportunities for the Tigers throughout the contest as Tea Area had the speed to match up with Groton on both ends of the field with Aftyn Murray on offense and Mya Neuhardt on defense.

“Not that other girls aren’t good, but boy when you’ve got those two,” Kucker said. “They are pretty standout-ish. They are good solid players.”

The setback capped a memorable season for the Tigers, who compiled a 9-3-1 record, tops ever for the program.

“This year’s soccer team definitely holds by far the best record that I can find in our history,” Kucker said. “Kudos to the girls. They played very well this year.”

Kucker said the residents of the community rallied around the squad all season long.

“For a town of 1,300 the community support for the kids is amazing in Groton,” he said. “If it deals with supporting these kids, our community is like none other.”

While falling just one game short in a quest for a state championship, the Tigers obtained some big-stage experience on Saturday that will serve them well going forward with no seniors on the squad.

“They’ve set themselves up for next year already,” Kucker said. “It will be fun to see how it turns out.”

Groton Area (9-3-1) 0 1 – 1

Tea Area (12-3-2) 0 3 – 3

First Half: No Scoring.

Second Half: 1, Tea Area, Cate Giles (penalty kick), 45th minute; 2, Tea Area, Sage Hoffman, 50th minute; 3, Tea Area, Kendra Nielson, 54th minute; 4, Groton Area, Jerica Locke, 72nd minute.