Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School girls soccer coach Rob Kurtz was seeking an offensive spark when he moved senior Vic Gersh from outside midfielder to forward in September.

Twelve straight wins later, Kurtz and the Barons are back in the 4A State Semifinals after a 1-0 win against Churchill on Tuesday at Richard Montgomery in the 4A West Region Championship.

Gersh came through with the game's lone goal and her play up top helped B-CC (14-2) dominate the Bulldogs (12-2-1).

"That was the shift," Kurtz said. "Vic is a difference maker for us with that much pace, that much energy on top. She changes the game for us."

Kurtz was quick to recognize midfielder and Stanford commit Alex Doll as the Barons' "MVP." But with both Doll and Gersh playing well, Kurtz has a one-two punch capable of propelling B-CC to its third straight state title.

Gersh's goal came with nine minutes remaining in the first half. A Barons' corner kick led to confusion in the penalty box for Churchill, which was unable to clear the ball.

The ball darted off a few defenders and was deflected toward the far post, where Gersh came rushing in to put away her goal from point blank range.

Elizabeth Ward was credited with the assist.

"I thought we played really well tonight in the first half," Kurtz said. "We had a chance to really put this game away but we didn't. But then it was about locking it down."

Doll helped B-CC control the vast majority of the game's possession. She connected with Gersh often, which allowed the Barons to dictate the pace of the game.

The Bulldogs had few scoring chances, and virtually none inside B-CC's penalty box. Baron goalkeeper Angela White finished with three saves.

In the 54^th minute, Gersh headed down a pass, dribbled toward Churchill's goal and sent a left-footed shot toward goal from the top of the penalty box. Bulldog goalkeeper Krista Quicker made a diving save.

But it would provide little momentum. Doll continued dribbling around defenders and laying off passes to Gersh and other B-CC attackers.

 "It is a luxury," Kurtz said. "The thing about Alex is, her play is irreplaceable when she leaves here. But what she's done in terms of the support for the other players in terms of helping them perfect their craft, showing them what work ethic is all about is what people don't see."

Thanks to his team's win on Tuesday, Kurtz has a few more practices and at least one more match to coach Doll, Gersh and the rest of the Barons' senior class. They'll play their state semifinal match on Saturday, again at Richard Montgomery.

And he wants them to go out on top.

"Our whole mentality is what's [2010] gonna bring and that's really been what we've been saying," Kurtz said. "This team, this senior group wants to leave as a champion."

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