Brittany Hoffman's perfectly placed shot provided the perfect ending to a near-perfect season.

Hoffman's lengthy spinning kick with 1:44 remaining in the Class A/AA girls' high school state soccer championship match landed in the goal, and Christian Academy of Knoxville completed its season 24-0-1 Saturday afternoon at GPS.

CAK coach Ried Estus said he had already thought about preparing for overtime when sophomore midfielder Paige Hoffman sent a pass from close to the sideline to her senior sister near the middle of the field. Brittany Hoffman wheeled and sent a high-arching, curving kick that happened to fit in the space over the extended arms of keeper Grace Courter and underneath the crossbar.

"That was as good a team as we're going to play any year," Estus said. "You don't expect the state-championship-winning goal to come from 40 yards out on a floater. But it was behind the posts, and they all count one."

Hoffman, who was chosen most valuable player of the final, also scored the first goal. It came 7:15 into the second half on a penalty kick.

Notre Dame (17-3-3) was able to tie it a little more than 10 minutes later when Erin Freeman headed in a pass from Kathryn Healy on the right side.

The Lady Irish ended with a 9-8 edge on shots. Courter made three saves.

Lady Warriors keeper Sally Jernigan was not credited with a save, but Notre Dame actually had more near misses. Danielle Ciabattone headed Michelle Spangler's free kick into the crossbar midway through the first half, and Carey Leiper narrowly missed outside the left post midway through the second half.

"We created some opportunities," Estus said. "They created more dangerous opportunities."

Notre Dame coach Jim Schermerhorn didn't look at the missed chances as a bad omen.

"We were creating those chances," Schermerhorn said. "That was a good thing. We did it once, we could do it again. The girls understand that."

Estus is a former women's college coach and athletic director at NCAA Division II Lees-McRae College in Banner Elk, N.C., the previous 15 years. He credited the situation he inherited to Covenant College men's coach Nathan Pifer, a fellow Covenant alumnus and the Lady Warriors' coach the last three years.

The state championship was the third for CAK's senior class.

Getting to the state tournament hasn't been a recent problem for the Lady Irish, but winning it has been. Their previous three seasons ended with state semifinal losses. Their only state championship came in 1988.

"I think the girls were confident preparing to play this game," Schermerhorn said. "We knew we could get to this point and play a good game. It could've been the other way around. It could've been 2-1 Notre Dame."

* Class AAA: Olivia Harrison's unassisted goal with 5:35 to play lifted Houston past Franklin 3-2. Harrison, who also assisted Hillary Dreyfus for the first goal of the match, was selected MVP of the final.

Franklin (18-4) got the tying goal from Mackenzie Moore 64:55 into the match and went ahead less than three minutes later when Chesney White scored off a pass from Anna Grigg. Morgan Zigelsky assisted Moore's goal.

After White's goal, it took 31 seconds for Houston (19-1-2) to tie it again. Katie Toler had the goal off Tisha Blankenship's assist.

State championships at GPS

Class A/AA

CHRISTIAN ACADEMY OF KNOXVILLE 2,

NOTRE DAME 1

Halftime score: 0-0. Goals: Brittany Hoffman 2 (CAK); Erin Freeman (ND). Assists: Paige Hoffman (CAK); Kathryn Healy (ND). Shots: ND, 9-8. Saves: Sally Jernigan 0 (CAK); Grace Courter 3 (ND). Records: CAK 24-0-1; Notre Dame 17-3-3.

Class AAA

HOUSTON 3, FRANKLIN 2

Halftime score: Houston, 1-0. Goals: Hillary Dreyfus, Katie Toler, Olivia Harrison (H); Mackenzie Moore, Chesney White (F). Assists: Harrison, Tisha Blankenship (H); Morgan Zigelsky, Anna Grigg (F). Shots: Houston, 9-6. Saves: Kelsey Cunningham 1 (H); Taylor Mangrum 0 (F). Records: Houston 19-1-2; Franklin 18-4.