Lorri Thornton said there was only so much she could say and do as the coach of the McKelvie School girls soccer team. The rest was up to her players.

They responded.

McKelvie – playing as a team for the last time before the Ross A. Lurgio Middle School opens next fall and the current middle school becomes home to fifth- and sixth-graders only – rolled to its second consecutive Tri-County League Class L title this fall, upsetting the top-seeded Merrimack team, 2-1, in the finals and avenging its only two regular-season losses.

Overcoming several injuries, including a sprained ankle that kept its starting sweeper, Alexis Johnson, out during the playoffs, McKelvie won with defense, Thornton said, “and then you kept your fingers crossed it would go in the net every once in a while.”

Players contributed in several aspects in a semifinal win over Londonderry, before duplicating the effort against Merrimack.

Eighth-grade captains Carely Pestana and Casey Levis controlled play from the midfield, helping to set up other forwards and midfielders such as Katie Downer, who scored a hat trick during the year; Emilee Marro; Sarah Phelps; Danielle Munoz; Victoria Hardin; Sarah Andrikowich; Hayley Barnard; Ansley Beaver; Molly McGown; and Sarah Sherr.

Goalie Leah Sherr backboned a defense that included Stephanie Johnson, Jacqueline Durand, Callie Santos, Meghan Gosselin, Maggie McGown, Jessica Thompson, Lindsay Veilleux and Lyndsie Barnett.

McKelvie was also coached by Melissa Souzzo, who played soccer with Thornton’s daughter, Liz, years earlier.

“We slowly started to work our way through,” said Thornton, referring to the team’s sputtering start, which included an early loss to Merrimack, as well as a tie. “And once the kids’ confidence starting going up, they knew they could do it.

“It was really their desire,” she continued. “They wanted to go out as champs.”