Sometimes it simply does not go your way.

That was among the several things Jacksonville second-year head soccer coach Joey Mahouchick said to his Cardinals Thursday night following a heartbreaking 3-2 home fourth-round playoff defeat to East Chapel Hill.

“That’s soccer,” he said. “I also told them I was proud of them. I couldn’t be prouder of a group of guys.”

Unfortunately for the second-seeded Cardinals (16-5-2), their quest of returning to the East Regional final for the first time since 2022 came short in extra time against the third-seeded Wildcats (17-3-2).

The deciding goal came with 6 minutes, 24 seconds remaining in the second 10-minute overtime when senior Eli Woods scored on a 20-yard free kick.

It was a tough way to end for Jacksonville, which leveled the match at 2-2 with 3:40 left in regulation when senior Jude Sawyer scored off a rebound off the goalkeeper.

“Our guys don’t quit, and that’s how they train, too,” Mahouchick said. “It could have been easy to fold the tent, but they kept grinding, and holy cow, they made it exciting.”

The Cardinals were certainly excited when junior Landon Adams scored off an assist from Sawyer to give Jacksonville a 1-0 edge with 17:59 left in the opening half.

However, the lead was short-lived.

East Chapel Hill senior Peter Mann evened the contest at 1-1 just 42 seconds after Adams’ goal. Mann then scored again 31 seconds later to give the Wildcats a 2-1 lead.

East Chapel Hill held onto the advantage until Sawyer scored late in regulation.

And while he was disappointed in the result, Mahouchick was not disappointed in the Cardinals’ effort in this game or throughout the season.

Thanks to the leadership from Sawyer, and other seniors like goalkeeper Braden Colley, Parker Hansen, Greyson Deupree, Chase Crawford and Ryan Hanks, Jacksonville won the Big Carolina 6-A/7-A Conference title for their ninth consecutive league crown.

The Cardinals entered the fourth round on a nine-game winning streak.

“This was a fantastic group. I couldn’t ask for a better group of guys,” Mahouchick said. “They did everything we asked them to do. The last month and a half has been phenomenal. It was a really good season from where we started to where we ended.”

Chris Miller can be contacted via email at cmiller@jdnews.com. Follow him on X @jdnsports.