STEPHENVILLE – Competing in their first-ever regional championship game, the Brownwood Lions’ historic soccer season reached its conclusion with a 3-0 loss to the Bridgeport Bulls Tuesday in the Class 4A Division II Region I final at Art Briles Stadium.

Just like a year ago, where Bridgeport picked up a 7-2 victory in the regional semifinals, the Bulls (20-3) brought an end to the postseason run – as well as a 16-match unbeaten streak – for the Lions (15-2-2).

“We had film on them and we’ve seen what they’ve done a little bit and the competition they’ve played,” said Lions head coach Michael Westerman. “We knew last year they had a lot of young kids on their team that would be returning. We have a lot of respect for Bridgeport, they’re loaded with talent, they play the game the right way, and do an excellent job of that. We’re improving and we’ve improved a lot, but in order to be one of the best teams in the state this is the kind of team you have to compete against and ultimately beat in order to achieve what our end goal is.”

Bridgeport scored all three of its goals in the first half, where it fired 15 shots compared to just two for Brownwood, which was facing a steady 20 mph south wind. Jared Contreras scored twice for the Bulls, and Hector Chavez tacked on a goal as well. The shot ratio remained similar in the second half, as the Lions struggled to gain possession of the ball for any length of time.

“They moved the ball in a fantastic way and that’s how we want to be,” Westerman said. “When you play a team that understands the game well and they move as a unit, every player on that team knew where to be in every formation they ran. They exposed us in every area. A lot of times we were just chasing the ball around. They were clever on and off the ball and it’s a credit to them. That’s an area we’re obviously going to have to focus on.”

Despite the loss, the Lions posted their best record in program-history and captured district, bi-district and area championships, as well as collecting as regional semifinal victory.

“It’s very frustrating to go out like this,” Westerman said. “But when you take a step back and look at what we’ve accomplished and what we’ve done, we have such a young group, a huge group of sophomores that played key roles with this team. We’ve played tough competition and we’ve achieved milestones that have never been achieved, and we’ve been so consistent with this being only our second loss. In the bigger picture, I’m extremely proud of the individuals in this program and how much we’ve grown, and extremely proud of the direction this program is going. It’s a process and it takes time to develop. We’re getting better, and I love that, but it’s going to take time for us to be in that final four and ultimately be the best.”

Regarding the departing senior class, Westerman said, “They’ve paved the way, they’ve planted the seed. They’ve seen the worst of things and have seen the full turnaround in the direction that we’re going. They started at the bottom and I have so much love and respect for them sticking around being a part of the entire process and paving the way for the younger kids. All the sophomores have only seen us make the third round, that’s all they know, but that’s the expectation now because of that senior group, and their work, their efforts, and their talents that they’ve put forth each season.”

Easily the largest crowd of the season showed up to watch the Lions play Tuesday, as the lower section of Art Briles Stadium home stands was near full capacity with Brownwood fans.

“It was phenomenal,” Westerman said. “I remember when I took this program over the kids would joke that only half the parents would show up to their games. The goal is to rally around the community and have the community to rally around you, and that’s what we’ve genuinely felt on this run. A lot of people have reached out and wrapped their arms around us and shown us love. The boys have loved it and there’s some games we just turn around and look at the crowd and admire it. To get people to come to

our games, to make them entertaining and to put on a good show, I’m just extremely proud. Hopefully we can continue to build and continue to get the crowds to show up and make Brownwood proud.”