They were soaked, defeated and disappointed, but the Hebron Academy boys’ soccer team had plenty of reason to be pleased Saturday.

The Lumberjacks had just lost to Tilton School, 3-1, in their New England tourney semifinal, but it was the end of a surprisingly successful year for Hebron, which had just four players returning this fall.

“Most of the guys were happy because they didn’t think with four guys coming back that we’d have won many games,” said Hebron coach Jay Keough.

Hebron finished the year 11-3-3 and won the MAISAD Championship for the second time in three seasons.

The Lumberjacks beat Wheeler School from Rhode Island last week, 3-2, to advance to the semifinals, but a berth in Sunday’s championship game wasn’t to be. Tilton emerged from the muck and slop with the victory, avenging a regular season loss to Hebron.

“The weather was not exactly a huge help,” said Keough. “We just had a couple bad breaks and unfortunately, some balls got in. We pretty much dominated the second half, but we gave up two goals in the first five minutes of the game. It’s tough to come back after that.”

Hebron wasn’t expecting to get so far this season. After going 4-7-4 last year with 15 new players and a loss in the MAISAD title game, the Lumberjacks had limited expectations for this fall. Out of four returning players, only Billy Brewster and Eric Rodriguez were returning starters.

“I thought it was going to be a huge rebuilding year,” said Keough. “We just had a lot of new players in a lot of different areas. I knew we would have competed very well inside our conference. We would have competed with Kent’s Hill for the championship again, like we did last year. The success we had out of our conference (beating Tilton and tying Proctor and Holderness), those were huge games against those schools.”

The team had seven post-graduates on the team, one being midfielder Mike Skelton. With Rodriguez and Brewster in the middle as well, the Lumberjacks were strong there. Sang Il Min and Vladyslav Gavrik bolstered the front line. It was a club, says Keough, that ultimately resembled the team that won the MAISAD title in 2006 and lost in New England finals.

“This year’s team had a great midfield and great strikers, a great offense” said Keough, who has been involved with the program for six year, four as head coach. “Our defense was pretty much all athletes, hockey and lacrosse players.”

The team had a handful of locals on the squad. Brewster is from Auburn. Senior Terry McLellan is from Lewiston. There are sophomores Tommy Cummings (Norway), Taylor Theriault (Minot) and Mike Bouchard (Lewiston). Freshman Lonnie Taylor is from Raymond.

Besides the talent and athleticism the team possessed, this group was a unique crew. What makes Keough even more excited is the fact that 14 of the team should return next year.

“It was a great group of kids,” said Keough. “When we won games or lost games, you couldn’t even tell if we won the game or lost the game or were going to the aquarium. The kids were even-keeled the whole year. There were no rotten apples. Usually you get one or two, but there wasn’t even one in 24 on the team. It was 24 guys that wanted to play and win.”

Keough also hopes the soccer season sets the tone for his hockey team. After a last fall’s down season, the players struggled through the hockey season before producing success in the spring in lacrosse. He hopes a great soccer season means more of the same for hockey.

“I’m hoping these guys can carry it over into hockey and just keep going,” said Keough.