SCITUATE – You get one shot, one opportunity, and senior Joshua Kue captured it.

No. 3 Norwell (20-2-2) captured their second Div. 3 state championship in three years in a 2-1 shootout (5-4) victory over No. 4 Pembroke (18-3-1) as Kue finished off the perfect set of penalty kicks for the Clippers; Kue had not scored since his sophomore year until the game-winning penalty kick.

“There is always pressure but once I saw my goalie save (the fifth shot), there was almost like a high moment where I said, ‘I can win this’,” said Kue, a defender. “We work on that every day in practice, knowing that we work on it, there’s a lot of confidence in my shot and when I can finish.”

Junior goaltender Nolan McKenna was simply outstanding throughout the entire contest and the entire playoff run. The Titans actually outshot Norwell in regulation and the two overtimes at a 10-2 clip but McKenna registered nine saves and stopped the all-important penalty kick.

McKenna leaned left but dove to his right in perfect position to stop the ball off the foot of hard luck shooter Thomas Halloran to set up Kue for the dramatic win.

“I don’t second guess myself, I pick my side, and I commit. I was in shock to be honest, but I knew it wasn’t over as I knew we had that one more PK in us. And we just put it away,” said McKenna. “I was trying to make the energy go up as at times the energy was a little down, so I had to raise that up with some intensity to motivate.”

There was nothing McKenna could do on the lone goal from the Titans as a foul was called inside the box on a defender’s hit from behind on Quinn Reilly. The left-footed Reilly toe-dragged McKenna and tucked the goal inside the left post for the 1-0 Pembroke lead in the 36th minute of play.

It took Norwell all the way to the 64th minute of play to register their first shot on goal but it was a beauty. Kue hit a free kick from just over 40 yards away and reserve midfielder Gavin Blake nestled the ball out front, and the equalizer gave the Clippers all of the momentum back.

Two overtimes produced nothing more than a few scoring opportunities from each team but none more important than a McKenna stop on a throw into the far post from McKenna.

Long ball became a scrum out in front, but Zach Bello was able to clear the ball with McKenna making the initial stop to preserve the 1-1 tie with just under four minutes left in the second overtime.

McKenna gave up a total of eight goals in the regular season, and two postseason goals in five wins, so head coach Michael O’Dea knows he might even have a shot again next season.

“I can’t say enough about this group of guys and what they’ve accomplished. Everything they have gotten they earned and did it with hard work. Aug. 20 is the first time we are allowed to be together and from there they’ve had a mindset, a mentality, and knew what they wanted to get to, and they didn’t want anything to get in the way,” said O’Dea, who took over the helm after the 2021 state championship run. “Nolan has had a brilliant year as a first-year starter, we knew he was typical for the big moment. The back four does a great job in front of him but when they break through, we know Nolan is there and we are in great hands with him.”