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The Callaway boys soccer team saw its season come to a heartbreaking conclusion with a 4-1 loss to Lamar County on Thursday.

The Cavaliers took an early lead when Jostin Raymundo scored an Olimpico (a goal directly off a corner kick).

“That’s a set play we have,” head coach Mike Petite said. “The players called that because we knew how they set up defensively on their corners.”

The Cavaliers battled hard for the remaining part of the first half and took a 1-0 lead into the break. The game began to unravel for the Cavaliers after letting Lamar County tie the game and then take the lead on an own goal in the 65th minute.

“We had 15 minutes to go and had to start pushing some guys forward,” Petite said.

The Cavaliers had to stretch the team out, which left them susceptible at the back for counter attacks. This coupled with three red cards left Callaway with a mountain to climb. Despite receiving a red card, Nitler Recinos had a monster game for the Cavaliers as he made numerous clutch saves in the match — something the Cavaliers were accustomed to him doing all season.

The Cavaliers ended up conceding a further two goals and made the score unflattering despite how tight and nervy the game was for the majority of the 80 minutes.

The Cavaliers will have to do some retooling as they will lose nine seniors and six starters from this year’s team.

“We carried a big squad this year, and we didn’t have a J.V. (team) because I wanted those younger guys to be with the varsity guys in practice to give them a challenge,” Petite said. “Now, it will be their turn after getting a good year under their belt.”

Despite the painful ending to the season, the Cavaliers have a lot to build on. The team broke the regular season win record and scored 81 goals while only conceding 24.

“I told these guys that they are now the team everybody will talk about and say ‘we have to accomplish what that ‘22 team did,’” Petite said. “Every team from now on will be comparing themselves to this year’s team. This team compared themselves to the ‘18 team. They have now taken that bar and set it even higher.”

The Cavaliers were knocked out of the second round of the playoffs but they finished with a record of 15-3-1.