There were tears, of course. But there was also laughter.
As the San Bernardino Valley College women's soccer team gathered in a circle after the team lost to Santiago Canyon College 2-0 in the CCCAA Women's Soccer Southern California Regional Semifinals, players and coaches shared their memories of the past season.
It was a season of successes for the Wolverines, who returned to the state Elite Eight in back-to-back seasons, and won its sixth consecutive conference championship. And a final record of 20 wins, two losses and two ties (with 19 shutouts) was nothing to sneeze at either.
But Saturday, the Wolverines ran into an opponent who was able to match them on the field in the Hawks, who were looking for a bit of redemption after losing to SBVC 2-0 on their home field earlier in the season.
The Hawks controlled play for most of the first half, finally breaking throug in the 37th minute on the second of back-to-back corner kicks surrendered by the Wolverines. The set play on the corner set up Jenny Ramirez with a short pass. She looked far post with her cross, where Alex Vanous headed the ball down and past Natalie Carreon for a 1-0 lead.
As the game neared stoppage time in the first half, the Hawks doubled their lead. April Gonzalez squared a pass across the the top of the penalty box to Ashley Roskelly, who hit a bullet past a diving Carreon for the 2-0 lead.
After goalkeeper Ann-Marie O'Connell and Jordan Steele fired up their teammates at the half, the Wolverines made some adjustments and took the game to the Hawks. But every shot was swallowed up by Santiago Canyon goalkeeper Siera Pedroza.
