CALDWELL - In the end, there were none better.

The Gooding Senators earned the 2009 3A Boys Soccer State Championship by shutting out Teton 1-0 Saturday at Vallivue High.

The lone goal came five minutes into the second half. Andres Valdez launched a long pass with the wind at his back along the left side. Danny Lopez corralled it in stride, drove it to the goal and slammed it over the head of Teton keeper Dany Bocardo.

"Andres sent me the pass and I decided to drive it and take it to the net," Lopez said. "I don't know how I did it, but it went through."

Gooding coach Roger Johnson moved Lopez, a three-time all-High Desert Soccer Conference player, from halfback to forward for the title game, hoping to gain advantage on the edge.

The Senator defense dominated the Redskins. Teton only got off six legitimate shots on goal, all stopped by Gooding goalkeeper Damen Hanson. One shot rang off the crossbar. Gooding stopped Teton on all nine of its corner kicks, rarely even letting the Redskins generate a shot from the set-pieces.

"The tournament was a great tournament," Gooding coach Roger Johnson said. "There were great teams all the way through. My team stepped up to the challenge as they have all year and did what we expected.

"Nobody's really dominated us, or taken it away from us."

Gooding (15-2-1) outscored its opponents 7-2 in the tournament. It was only whistled for offside twice in the last two games. The Senators passed carefully, but with precision and passion.

They also expressed the motivation they took from those they thought doubted them.

"The Times-News said we couldn't do it," Gallegos said, referencing Wednesday's printed prediction of a fourth-place finish at the tournament. "And we proved them wrong. For all of Gooding, we proved them wrong."

Gallegos didn't score in the final, but he bashed it off the posts twice and helped retain ball control throughout.

"Manuel is a very good player and we'll miss him next year," Andres Valdez said. "If it wasn't for him, we wouldn't have got here."

Johnson played it cool after the game. He said his team "did all the speaking" for him. He made his team practice passing and defense rigorously all season.

The Senators were ready for this, and they beat every team they faced. They earned their wins, this championship. They get a banner, a trophy and a bunch of memories.

The Gooding Senators are champions.