CLARION — Noah Pollock turned his head just in time to see the ball trickle into the net.

As the junior forward on the Karns City boys soccer team lay on the turf at Clarion University's Memorial Stadium, his teammates piling onto him in jubilation and celebration, Pollock could think of just one thing.

Finally.

The goal broke a scoreless stalemate that lasted for nearly 70 minutes and gave the Gremlins their second straight District 9 Class A title in a 1-0 victory over Brockway Thursday night.

It's the first time the Karns City boys soccer team has repeated as district champion.

And this one was well-earned.

Spenser Myers set up the goal with a free kick that Pollock broke on, beating Brockway keeper Austin Moore to the ball and heading it just over his reach.

“I ran as fast as I could to the 18 and as soon as it was coming, I knew it just had to be,” Pollock said. “It was our time to win.”

Karns City (18-1) dominated play in the first half, but Brockway turned the tables in the second half.

But Karns City keeper Nick Dodds was up to the challenge with three key stops in the final 40 minutes.

Dodds dropped nearly 50 pounds in the offseason in the hopes he would inherit the position.

The shutout was Dodds' 13th of the season.

“Nick has the sweetest feet for a big guy,” said Karns City boys soccer coach Jim Grenninger. “But I told him if he wanted to be in net, he needed to lose some weight for me. All summer long, he busted his butt. He worked out. He ran.

“He's half the man he used to be,” Grenninger added, smiling. “But he looks great.”

And he's played great, as has the Gremlins' defense of Noah Claypoole, Caleb Garing, Ian McElroy and Nolan Riley in the playoffs.

The match was a physical one, but the Karns City defenders were able to maintain their aggressiveness and hold the Rovers at bay.

“The defense, the past two games, they have rose to the occasion,” Grenninger said. “They played physically and talked to each other.”

After the scoreless first half in which Karns City came up empty on several opportunities, Grenninger felt uneasy.

“I was hoping it wouldn't come down to a brain fart doing us in,” Grenninger said. “Lucky the gods were with us.”

Pollock also had a feeling the match would come down to who scored first.

“At halftime coach told us it was going to be a one-goal game and it was,” Pollock said. “We knew we needed to get the seniors one more game. We didn't want them to go out with a D-9 loss.”

Karns City will play WPIAL third-place team Sewickley Academy in the first round of the PIAA Class A playoffs Tuesday at a site and time to be determined.

“We're going to prepare the same way,” Grenninger said. “We know we're going to play a team that probably every starter is a club player. We have one. We'll come and show up. I guarantee these guys will make it entertaining and make it a game for us.”