A loss in the regional semifinals is always hard. All of a sudden the season comes to an end, one step shy of a shot at the championship.

That was only part of why Mt. Abram’s playoff exit was so devastating. For the Roadrunners, that loss was the end of a season neither players nor coaches wanted.

“Both on and off the field, they’re a fantastic group of girls,” Mt. Abram coach Marc Keller said. “Losing the last game of the season is always hard, but it was the worst loss I’ve ever been associated with in a sports season. I wanted so much for them. They’re great students. They’re great athletes. They’re great kids. I can’t say enough about them.”

Mt. Abram finished the year 15-1. That came after a perfect regular season and the top seeding in Western C, earning them the Sun Journal Girls’ Soccer Team of the Year.

“It was absolutely phenomenal,” senior forward Rebecca London said. “Being our senior year, we were hoping to make some magic happen. That certainly happened for us. It was a great way to go out and have our senior season be as special and as successful as it was.”

The Roadrunners featured a wealth of experience and talent. London, Rachel Fullerton, Rebecca Fullerton, Emma James and Kylie Rolbiecki were selected as all-conference and all-Western C players. Senior Maria Parrett was also an all-MVC pick.

“We were very athletic and very fast,” said Keller. “We weren’t always the most skilled team on the field, we worked so well together.”

The Roadrunners were a harmonious group that enjoyed time spent together. The team spent Friday nights together and met for team breakfasts before Saturday games.

“We had played together for so long,” London said. “We had 10 seniors that have been working together for four years to get to this point and working with Coach Keller and the players that had been here before. Even the underclassmen, a couple girls came up to me after the last game and were like, ‘I really hoped we wouldn’t lose because I wanted to keep playing with you girls.’ That meant a lot. It showed that it didn’t just mean a lot to the seniors, but it meant a lot to the other girls.”

After 11 wins and a loss in the Western C quarterfinals last year, the Roadrunners were excited about this year’s potential. Limited preseason action meant for a slow start, but when the Roadrunners blanked Hall-Dale, Keller saw something developing.

“I knew (Hall-Dale) was going to be a decent program, and we beat them 4-0,” Keller said. “Then I started to think maybe this team’s got something special.”

One of the only disappointments for the Roadrunners was an overtime loss in the MVC championship game. Mt. Abram dominated Lisbon but lost in penalty kicks. After a long layoff, the Roadrunners rallied to beat St. Dom’s in overtime in the Western C quarterfinals before the 1-0 loss to NYA in the semis.

“You knew going into every game that they were going to have to beat us,” Keller said. “We knew we were going to play very well and other teams were going to have to play extremely well in order to beat us. It was a lot of fun coaching these girls this year.”