Colchester — Until Monday, the Bacon Academy girls’ soccer team was the reigning Class M state champion, the Eastern Connecticut Conference Division II regular-season champion and the league tournament title-winner all at the same time.

The Bobcats had also given up just four goals all season, thanks to the otherworldly combination of senior goalie Elizabeth Glover and senior center back Veronica Smith, who was the Most Outstanding Player of the ECC tournament.

“Think about the 12-month run those seniors have had,” Bacon coach Matt Rafala said. “... It’s unheard of.”

Third-ranked Bacon’s lofty streak came to an end, however, in penalty kicks Monday in a 1-0 loss to No. 19 Northwest Catholic in the second round of the Class M tournament. After a scoreless 100 minutes, including two 10-minute overtimes, Northwest Catholic blanked the defending Class M champion 3-0 in penalty kicks, with PKs by Elise Nicholas, Allie Loveless and Maeve Staunton.

“Part of soccer we love and hate,” Rafala said of the penalty-kick ending, which came as darkness fell in Colchester. “It’s an imperfect way to end a perfect game. There’s no good fix for it. It stinks losing that way and it’s tough winning that way.”

Northwest Catholic, which won a first-round game Saturday against Daniel Hand, also on the road and also in overtime, advanced to Thursday’s quarterfinal-round home game to meet No. 22 East Hampton.

Bacon won last year’s Class M title, the first in program history, 2-1 over previously unbeaten Suffield. The Bobcats outscored their opponents in that penalty-kick round 11-10, with Glover converting the game-winning kick and stopping four Suffield penalties to earn Most Valuable Player honors.

Glover finished Monday with 13 saves, 11 in regulation and two in overtime. Katelyn Novak cleared a Northwest Catholic corner kick away from the goal early, as well, for the Bobcats (13-3-3) and sophomore Hannah Ferrigno made a defensive save, in addition to the work by Smith in the backfield.

Bacon had one of its best scoring opportunities with about 13 minutes remaining in regulation when Audrey Palmer, from the right, tried to sneak the ball into the near corner. Facing the goal, Northwest goalie Abby Casper chased down the shot and smothered it before it could cross the goal line.

“Absolutely, Elizabeth and I are constantly in connection, telling whether I have the ball or she has the ball,” Smith said of the stingy Bacon defense. “It’s constant communication and when we can pull out that zero and they have no goals against, it’s absolutely amazing. It’s a huge accomplishment.

“We’re not going in scoring goals (as defenders), so we need something to prove our efforts and keep it zero. It’s incredible every time.”

The two also play together at Oakwood Soccer Club and during basketball season at Bacon.

“They’ve been proving themselves the last two, three years,” Rafala said of the defensive unit. “We’ve won a lot of games from them. They’ve kept us in a lot of games we probably shouldn’t have been in. It’s a great group. To allow four goals against the entire year ... and they didn’t even allow a goal today.”

Rafala credited Northwest Catholic, which finished 8-5-3 in the regular season with the last three losses to Central Connecticut Conference West opponents Simsbury, Hall and Southington, all of which competed in the Class LL state tournament.

“This was a state finals matchup in round two,” Rafala said. “Everyone looked at that (pairing) and said, ‘Oh, wow. That should have been a game played two weeks from now.’”

v.fulkerson@theday.com