By Ray Hamill — The Ferndale Wildcats won a first-ever North Coast Section girls soccer championship with a well-taken goal and some outstanding defense on Wednesday.

Playing league rival St. Bernard’s in the Division-3 final, the Cats scored early and held their nerve for the following 75 minutes.

Teresa Catana scored the only goal of the game just five minutes in on a wonderfully placed Regan Russ corner kick.

And thanks to a compose defensive performance, that was all they would need.

Russ was outstanding once again while anchoring the back line, along with teammate Michaela Ellsmore.

“It felt like they were ready for it. I just think the girls were locked in,” Ferndale head coach Bailey Davy said.

The Crusaders were missing two key players, who were in Sacramento for a playoff volleyball game, but they gave it their all and fell just short in their bid for a fourth straight NCS championship.

Check out video highlights of the game above, including Catana’s history-making goal that will go down as one of the most pivotal moments in Ferndale High sports history.

Goalkeeper Tinnley Pidgeon also was instrumental in the win with a composed performance between the posts.

The Wildcats join Eureka, Fortuna and St. Bernard’s as the only H-DNL teams to have ever won an NCS championship in soccer.

For more on the game, see ‘Locked-in’ Wildcats claim first-ever NCS crown …

Ferndale’s Teresa Catana reacts after scoring the only goal of the game on Wednesday.