WINTHROP — Tuesday’s Class D South final was the longest game the Richmond boys soccer team played all year. It was also the most rewarding.

After regulation and two overtime periods failed to produce any goals, Richmond defeated defending state champion Monmouth 1-0 after winning a penalty kick shootout, 4-1.

Kenny Mecham scored first for Richmond (15-1), and Rory Foyt matched for Monmouth (12-3-1).

Rhys Terry and Jacob Gay scored on the Bobcats’ next two attempts, and Brady Alexander’s shot clinched a trip to the Class D state championship.

“Pick a side and pray,” Richmond goalkeeper David Edwards said about his shootout mentality.

Edwards saved five shots for the top-seeded Bobcats, plus one during the shootout. Lewis Lamoreau saved three shots for the second-seeded Mustangs.

Edwards, a junior, said he was nervous once the shootout began, but added he has “trained for this moment since freshman year.”

“It was an amazing feeling,” Edwards said. “I’ve got to give it to my fellow teammates. They put the ball in the back of the net and I was grateful enough to make the right save at the right time.”

Tuesday’s showdown was the latest between two familiar foes. The teams split their season series this fall and faced off of last year’s Class D South final, which Monmouth won, 4-0.

“I’m very, very, very proud,” Richmond head coach Peter Gardner said, “of how well they played and how they weathered some really, really tough attacks that the Monmouth kids did. (They stayed) steadfast and did what they needed to do. There were a couple plays in there where David came out big and strong. I was hoping we would finish it on the field, and thankful that they didn’t finish it on the field.”

Gardner said the only time he was nervous was at 2 minutes, 12 seconds before halftime, when the winningest boys soccer coach in Maine history was awarded a yellow card for accidentally stepping on the field and catching a ball that was on its way out of bounds. Monmouth was awarded a free kick from the 25-yard line, but the two Mustangs looking for headers could not connect on the pass.

Unfortunately for Monmouth, that was the theme of the night, as most scoring opportunities were thwarted by mistimed second touches, off-target throw-ins or a shot that sailed through the uprights. The Mustangs had advantages of 6-3 in both shots on goal and corner kicks.

“They are well coached, and they play hard, and they had a good scheme,” Monmouth head coach Joe Fletcher said. “They didn’t give us quality looks. We had, I don’t know how many — our book says that we had 26 shots, I don’t know if that’s accurate or not — but I know we certainly out-possessed them and had more opportunities.

“We practiced all for two weeks penalty kicks,” Fletcher added.” And so I thought, ‘Well, we’ll be pretty good.’ You know, the moment’s pretty big. Might be too big for some of us right now, being freshman and sophomores. We’ll learn from it.”

Richmond, which returns to the Class D final for the first time since 2017, will face North champion Fort Fairfield on Saturday at Morse High School in Bath. Kickoff is set for 3 p.m.