The James River boys saw their soccer season come to an end with a 3-2 loss at Appomattox High Monday in the opening round of the Region 2A West tournament. It took two overtimes to eliminate the Knights from post-season play.

“This was a tough way to end our season,” said coach Jared Whiting. “We played strong, we played hard, and we controlled most of the game. Our mental game fell apart late in the game again and it cost us a the win.”

The game was tied 1-1 at the half and River took the lead half way through the second half.

“We made a couple mistakes and gave up a goal with seven minutes left to tie it and go into overtime,” said Whiting. “In overtime we just couldn’t seem to settle in and play, giving up yet another goal to end the match.”

Tyler Whiting and Tristan Flood each scored one goal for the Knights with one assist from Ben Woody.

“You hate to see these guys drop one that you know they could have won,” said Whiting. “These guys have progressed so far and worked so hard this season and played some outstanding soccer. I can’t tell you how proud of them I am and feel fortunate to be able to coach and work with these guys. It’s a true honor. We all wish we were still in contention but putting it all together and keeping it together is what it’s all about and we just came up a little short.”

The Knights finished at 11-6 for the season. Last week they were runners-up in the Conference 38 tournament, defeating Martinsville in the semifinal, 1-0, on a goal by Tyler Whiting. In the championship game River lost to Giles, 3-0.

“Giles is a good team but I was impressed with how hard we worked,” said Whiting. “It was a tough game 24 hours after a tough match against Martinsville.”