Montville — One of the things the Norwich Free Academy girls’ soccer team was playing for was history, as Wednesday night’s Eastern Connecticut Conference Division I championship game marked the Wildcats’ first-ever appearance in the final.

And then their first title.

“Every day they come and they work hard,” NFA coach Taylor Shannon said. “They work hard and they want it. We’ve been building. We had a couple of lulls this season. We had a couple of lulls, but they’ve been working hard.

“They deserve it. They’ve been working really, really hard together. They want to win for each other. They want to win for themselves. They want to make history and that’s what they did tonight.”

Led by Most Outstanding Player Jordan Fabry, who controlled the midfield, second-seeded NFA beat No. 1 Waterford 3-0 to win the Division I title game at Montville High School.

It was the second game of a doubleheader following No. 1 Lyman Memorial’s 3-0 triumph over No. 6 Montville in the ECC Division II championship game played earlier in the afternoon.

NFA (14-2-2) led 1-0 at halftime on a goal by Hayleigh Young with 13 minutes, 41 seconds remaining, with Young lofting the ball to the top right of the net.

The Wildcats made it 2-0 at the 31:45 mark of the second half when Brooke Bolles scored on an assist from Colbie Gisleson.

There was a lengthy delay with 24:47 to play when NFA’s Sadie Daniewicz suffered a back injury and was taken to the hospital via ambulance. The Wildcats, with the ball already in their end of the field, scored 30 seconds after play resumed on a goal by Gisleson.

“That one goal is all you need to sometimes get the ball rolling,” Shannon said of breaking the scoreless tie. “But my coach and I, we look at each other sometimes and 1-0 leads, 2-0 leads are sometimes the most dangerous, too.”

Shannon, whose team won the regular-season ECC Division I title, as well, reminded her team throughout the game to remain hungry.

“We had to constantly keep the energy and stay up right up to the end of the game,” said Shannon, a Waterford grad. “They’ve got to win 50-50 balls, they’ve got to be hungry in the box, always hungry on the field, you’ve got to always want the ball.”

NFA and Waterford, the ECC Division II regular-season champ, tied 1-1 in double overtime in their previous meeting on Oct. 5. Shannon recalled that Waterford scored with 25 seconds remaining in regulation to force that overtime session.

“It was kind of a redemption game (for us),” Shannon said. “They wanted it tonight. They came out hungry.”

Waterford is 14-2-2.

Back-to-back for the Bulldogs

Emily McKelvey scored twice for Lyman (14-3-1) in the Division II title game and Avery Volle added a goal, as the Bulldogs repeated their title from a year ago.

“I’m so proud of the girls,” Lyman coach Mark Morello said. “We had to overcome low numbers and injuries. The kids did a great job making adjustments. Most importantly, they believed in each other, supported each other through some tough times and managed to have some fun along the way.

“Seeing Emily hit her stride has been great. She’s believing in herself and her talent.”

In the first half, McKelvey made a run to the goal and flicked the ball over the goalkeeper’s head and just under the crossbar to give the Bulldogs a 1-0 lead that stood through halftime. In the second half she scored on an assist from Haley Cardinali.

Volle scored the final goal late in the game on a header off an assist from Madeline Archer.

Montville (8-9-2) reached the championship game to play on its home field with a run through the tournament which included wins over No. 3 Plainfield in the quarterfinals (2-1 in overtime) and No. 2 Wheeler in the semifinals (4-0).

Lyman received a bye into the semifinals, where it toppled No. 5 St. Bernard 3-1.

v.fulkerson@theday.com