BANGOR — The founder of the Greely boys’ soccer program, Glen Hutchins, died last year. He was on the mind of the Rangers on Saturday afternoon.

“We named our field after him,” Greely Coach Mike Andreasen said. “Today is Hutch’s birthday. We thought, wow, we won it on Coach Hutchins’ 93rd birthday.”

The Rangers caught a break for a first-half goal, then dominated play throughout the second half, taking a 3-0 win over John Bapst at Cameron Stadium to earn the Class B state championship, the program’s first since 2013.

Greely finished the season at 17-0-1. For John Bapst (16-2), it was the third consecutive state championship game loss.

“Defensively, they really shut us down. They’re so solid in the back,” said John Bapst Coach Jason Pangburn.

Following a tie with 2023 state champion Yarmouth in the season opener, the Rangers reeled off 17 consecutive wins.

“We were disappointed we tied (Yarmouth),” said Greely junior Connor Skillin, who scored the Rangers’ first two goals Saturday. “We took that attitude every single game, we’ve got to get the job done.”

Andreasen was confident in the preseason, knowing his team returned more all-conference players than anyone else in the Western Maine Conference. The Rangers never lost focus, Andreasen said.

“We weren’t talking about the championship game until we won Wednesday night,” he said. “We said, ‘oh, by the way, we’re in the state championship game.’ They love playing. They love practicing.”

Skillin was credited with Greely’s first goal, an own goal that glanced off a Crusaders defender and into the net with 26:28 left in the first half. Skillin sent a pass from the left corner to the front.

“I was trying to find Bez (Mendelsohn) making a run across the middle,” Skillin said.

Playing with the wind, the Crusaders had a few chances to tie the game late in the first half but were unable to sustain enough pressure. Andreasen credited Mason Rogers, a senior back who has played the entire season with a hip injury, as a leader on the Rangers’ defense.

“He’s so smooth. He makes it look like he’s not even trying. He wins balls on people,” Andreasen said.

“They’re good. They’re real good. They were quick. They countered well. They played really well with the wind in the first half… In the second half, I thought we came out strong. We were all over them.”

The Rangers made it 2-0 with 33:21 left when Skillin scored on a pass from Mendelsohn. The play was set up by Greely’s ability to transition quickly from midfield to attack, Pangburn said.

“They just won everything in the midfield. Like the second goal they scored, we put a ball out to the midfield, they were able to win the ball, and they attack so quickly,” he said.

The final goal came with 20:30 to play when Owen Piesik scored on a header off Sam Anania’s corner kick.

Landon Dominski made one save for the shutout. Connor Messervey made nine saves for the Crusaders.

“Their goalie had a great game. He really made it hard for us to put some in,” Skillin said.