After winning its first boys’ soccer district title in five years, Fatima traveled to O’Fallon on Saturday, where they fell 4-0 to Veritas Christian in the quarterfinals to end the year.

“They were a good team,” said Coach Kelley-Marie Wibberg, noting Veritas was ranked first among 46 teams most of the season. “It’s always hard playing somewhere that’s not home, and it’s challenging to go from playing on grass to artificial turf.”

Fatima trailed 2-0 at the half, but that didn’t dull the Comets’ edge. “They were still motivated,” said Wibberg. “They were still in the game, and they played it out to the final minute. I a, super proud of them, and I told them that to be one of the last eight teams playing the state was incredible.”

On the long drive to O’Fallon, Wibberg told the Comets how proud she was of them for their tenacity. “The way everything has gone this season, the boys could have quit, but they stuck with it. I told them everything they needed was at their feet. This game was all about winning it in their heads and hearts, and I’m pleased with how they handled themselves.”

Michael Sesti played his first game back after being out since being injured in the Cap City game, almost two months ago. “I know there was a lot of pressure on him to perform, but I thought he did extremely well and played hard,” said Wibberg.

Goalkeeper Paden Luebbert finished the game with 23 saves, and Eli Koenigsfeld and Andrew Muenks each had what Wibberg called “awesome” saves.

Wibberg expressed her gratitude for the support the team received this year. “We appreciate the Knights of Columbus for their excellent maintenance of the field, the ballboys who helped us all year, and our fans, who showed up every game, no matter what, to cheer on these boys,” she said. “We couldn’t ask for more support.”