An undefeated season for Mohawk Mountaineers women's soccer came to an end after a 1-0 loss to the Durham Lords in the OCAA quarter-final round.
Both the Mountaineers and Lords were evenly matched all game as the host Durham played in front of a home crowd.
The first half saw the shots favour the Lords 6-3, but the match went into the break tied 0-0.
In the 49th minute Durham was able to get on the board with a shot from just inside the box.
Mohawk had a total of six shots for the game, with a couple hitting the crossbar, but they were unable to beat the Lords goalkeeper.
"You don't score on your chances, you don't win the game," said head coach Paul Giannini. "I think we matched up well, but you get that bad bounce you lose the game."
Goalkeeper Samantha DeHaan (Smithville, ON) made seven saves to keep her team in the match.
The second-year head coach credited his team for not showing any quit and called them a resilient group.
"Before I got the job, they asked me 'what's one word you want your team to be,' and I go 'resilient'," Giannini said. "I said I want them to fight no matter what and all year that's what these kids have been doing."
The Mountaineers finished the regular season with a 5-0-5 record, improving from a one-win season a year ago. It was also their first undefeated season since 1998 and first appearance in the quarter-finals since 2017.
Giannini expects the year-over-year growth to shine a spotlight on the program.
"I think it's going to help with recruiting," Giannini said. "People are going to see we're trying to build a whole program here and we want this to be a destination for top players."
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