Photo by Graham Cullen Catoctin's Victoria Whitbred, left, battles for the ball with Manchester Valley's Mandy Gates during the Cougars' 4-0 loss in the 1A North Region final Thursday.

With a little under seven minutes left, the Cougars trailed Manchester Valley -- a team they beat during the regular season -- by just one goal.

But the Cougars' hopes were dashed by the Mavericks' aggressive offense, which scored three goals in the final 6 minutes, 51 seconds and helped Manchester Valley down Catoctin, 4-0, in the Class 1A North Region championship game on Thursday.

Catoctin coach Robin Hertel refused to comment on the game.

Despite entering the playoffs with a 3-8-1 regular-season record, Catoctin was gunning for its first state tournament appearance since 1982.

"Our record doesn't really show it at all, and we never really got the respect we deserved," Catoctin junior Ashley Smith said. "But this really showed people that we did have plenty of skill to make it this far."

And they wanted to go even further.

"I wanted to go all the way, I wanted to win states," Catoctin junior Kristi Long said. "I wanted to show the school that we could do it."

It was a realistic goal. The Cougars had already notched a 1-0 win over Manchester Valley -- a first-year school that had just two regular-season wins -- earlier this season, plus they were coming off a 2-0 win over Carver A&T in the regional semifinals.

"We had high hopes because we wanted this so bad," Catoctin senior goalie Amanda Kline said. "Because our season doesn't show what we went through this year with practicing. It's been tough, but we were looking forward to this."

Although Manchester Valley's offense kept plenty of pressure on Catoctin's goal, the game stayed scoreless until Mavericks freshman Colby Unkle knocked in a goal -- shortly after a corner -- with 28:28 left in the second half.

The Cougars tried not to let that goal get them down.

"No, because we had the heart to win," Smith said. "The last game we won 1-0, but they just really improved."

Since playing the Cougars, Manchester Valley faced plenty of stiff competition from field hockey-rich Carroll County, including Westminster (a state powerhouse), Century, North Carroll and South Carroll. They got lessons as well as losses.

"Carroll County has a very strong hockey program," Manchester Valley coach Jennifer Etzel said. "So I think playing other teams that have more students was able to push our girls to get better and to see what strong varsity teams look like. And we are now a strong varsity team as well."

Still, the Cougars were within striking distance heading into the final seven minutes. Kline had made several tough saves, and the Cougars mounted a couple scoring threats.

But Erin Pace gave the Mavericks a 2-0 lead, deflecting in a close-range shot, and she helped trigger a late burst of scoring from the fired-up offense. Mandy Gates scored two more goals down the stretch.

"I think once that first goal went in, they got that feeling again of what they needed to do to score again," Etzel said. "That's where we were struggling. We had the ball up there the whole time, and it was just getting it in."

Catoctin finishes with a 4-9-1 record, but it was the only Frederick County team to reach the regional finals this season and it was loaded with underclassmen.

"I couldn't ask for more. Our record doesn't show it, but it was by far the most fun I've had," said Kline, who had six saves in the final game of her career. "I can't wait to come back and see them next year, they're going to be great."