South Williamsport keeper Althea Street could be seen crying as she gathered her belongings.

For those seniors, the loss stung more than any other they’ve experienced in their career. It meant that they won’t ever be wearing a blue and white jersey again and playing for the Mounties. That moment seniors dread had finally come: their career was over.

The Mounties had title aspirations this year. The team was coming off a third straight championship last October and the team was gaining momentum late in the year at the right time. But one goal is all it takes to end a game, and Southern Columbia was able to walk away with the win Tuesday in the District 4 Class A semifinals at Milton, preventing a four-peat opportunity for South Williamsport.

Those tears were emotional for South Williamsport, but what that group of seniors accomplished is no small feat over these past four years.

South Williamsport walk off the field after a 1-0 loss to Southern Columbia at Milton High School. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

“Wonderful career they all had,” Lovecchio said, quickly pointing out how much each one of those seniors meant to the program.

“You have Althea, as I’ve said and will say again, the most underrated goalie in the area. She stopped so many things. Ella speaks for herself. I mean what she did this year, we took 100-goal scorer and put her in the back in defense and she played remarkably well.

“You have Addy Morrison who over the years has played ten different positions, OK, and never, ever gives up. She plays very well,” Lovecchio continued. “The last one we had was Olivia Miller, who got hurt in the Lewisburg game with a broken ankle but she started since her sophomore year. 

“These girls are great leaders, I think they represented themselves very well. I think they represented the team very well, the school very well and I think they left a great legacy.”

A great legacy they left indeed. Moore, Street, Morrison and Miller leave behind huge shoes for future Mounties to fill and have raised the bar as to what the expectations at South Williamsport are.

Ella Moore of South Williamsport walks off the field after getting a yellow card as she plays Southern Columbia at Milton High School. Southern won 1-0. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

Those four seniors won three District 4 Class A championships — the most district titles by one group of players in South history — went to four straight District 4 titles, reached the state quarterfinals twice, came one goal of reaching a state championship game in 2022 and won 64 games.

Street became one of the program’s all-time shutouts leaders as she ended her outstanding career as a goalie with 35, nine of which came this fall. Moore became the program’s second all-time goal scorer with 127 and became South Williamsport’s only 100-goal, 50-assist player in history. Morrison and Miller both played great during their careers wherever they were needed on the field and helped the team excel.

No one wants to lose and those losses — especially in the postseason — sting worse than the bitter cold temperatures in late fall. But South’s four seniors can look back and realize they not only accomplished a lot, but they raised the expectations of what’s expected for South players moving forward.

“They raised the bar. we want to make the state tournament,” Lovecchio said after Tuesday’s loss to the Tigers. “We want to go deep into districts and we knew once we were on Southern’s side that it was going to be tough because Southern’s well coached. They’re a good team, I can’t take them away from them.”

And no one can take away South’s seniors accomplishments or what they meant to the program either.

Jon Gerardi covers high school soccer and is the sports editor at the Sun-Gazette. He can be reached at jgerardi@sungazette.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JonGerardi.