DIXFIELD – A contest between arch-rivals normally brings out the best in teams. That’s why Dirigo girls’ soccer coach Art Chamberlin anticipated a hard-fought, regular-season finale at sunny Harlow Park on Wednesday.

But the Cougars made it look easy as Alexa Kaubris recorded a hat trick and Danielle Glover scored two goals, allowing Dirigo to glide away with a 6-0 shutout against Mountain Valley.

Dirigo (12-0-2), ranked No.1 in Heal Points, will host a Class C quarterfinal playoff game next week. The Cougars will play Wiscassett or Georges Valley in the Mountain Valley Conference championship game Saturday afternoon at 1:30 at Jay High School.

“I think our intensity was the difference today,” Kaubris said. “We came out with a lot of it, but as a top-seeded team, we can’t let up. The teams that we play usually play their best because they want to try and knock us off.”

The Cougars set the tone early and the pressure paid dividends as Glover scored on a crossing pass five minutes and 27 seconds in to the game. Brooke Weston assisted on the play.

Class B Mountain Valley (4-9-1) was simply unable to produce a sustained attack as the Falcons struggled when it came to loose balls. The weak passes were constantly intercepted by the Cougar halfbacks. The 10th-ranked Falcons could play in a preliminary playoff game.

Dirigo received strong efforts from Kayleigh Daley and Weston in the offensive zone. Fullbacks Kim Decker, Jessica Lyons and Sasha Theriault were kept busy clearing balls away.

Despite its dominance, Dirigo only held a 1-0 lead, but Kaubris proceeded to clip the Falcon wings with 2:26 left in the first half. Kaubris intercepted a clearing pass, squared up and booted a ball past goalie Ashley Pelletier’s right shoulder.

“At halftime, we had decided to maintain the pressure,” Chamberlin said. “Mountain Valley had (opportunities) because we hadn’t marked up at the 18-yard line. We wanted to come out like the score was 0-0. The girls actually did a lot of the talking because they had recognized things on the field, like diagonal passing and that was nice to hear.”

Dirigo scored a beautiful goal 3:26 in to the second half to lead 3-0. Glover used her speed to get by Sarah Dinsmore on the right side, dribbled in and hit a centering pass. Katie Hutchinson took a side step and hit the ball in the net.

Mountain Valley had shots by Kori Warren and Kaylee Rumley, but Dirigo goalie C.C. Chow made one save. Cougar defenders Jen Harvey, Deidra Gilbert, Mallory Child and Melissa Porter kept the Falcons at bay.

Kaubris scored twice and Glover added one in the waning minutes.

“A big difference this year is our balanced attack,” Kaubris said. “Every position is contributing and we have some skilled players.”