Only one team gets to finish the season in celebration.

In the case of the Conant boys’ soccer team, the improbability of the Orioles even reaching this point offered only a little consolation in the moment. But elimination eradicated nothing from the unpredictable journey the Orioles embarked on over the last two weeks, and, more so, the last four seasons for the team’s 10 seniors.

The No. 11 Orioles saw their Cinderella run strike midnight in the Division III semifinals with a 4-1 loss to defending champions No. 2 Gilford at a soaked and shivery Bank of NH Stadium at Laconia High School Monday evening.

It is the deepest run the boys’ soccer program at Conant has ever made. The seniors were part of the first Orioles team to advance to the Division III quarterfinals in 2020. They made it back to the quarterfinals each of the next two seasons — losing all three trips, including a 2-1 heartbreaker to Trinity in penalty kicks in 2021.

Finally, on their fourth attempt, the Orioles broke through. And they did it with the most unlikely of circumstances — as the 11th-ranked team out of 16 to make the tournament.

“Nobody expected us to be here. We’re not supposed to be here,” said Conant coach Tom Harvey. “But the kids didn’t quit. They played for each other, and what they did over the last three, four years ... they put Conant soccer on the map. Tonight was all about being here and getting here. I couldn’t be happier with them.”

The Orioles entered October with a playoff spot still in the balance, and began the month by losing three of their first four games. But injuries healed and the Orioles got back on track.

After two overtime wins to cap the regular season, the Orioles hit the road for the playoffs with health and momentum.

First they took down unsuspecting No. 6 Derryfield 3-2, then held off No. 3 Mascoma Valley 3-2 to get the quarterfinal monkey off their backs.

“We told ourselves, ‘We’re here to have fun,’ “ said senior Thomas Harvey. “We had to remember that and not take ourselves too seriously, but we also knew we had to try. We beat Derryfield and we thought ‘OK, we’re it,’ and we just kept it going.”

But in No. 2 Gilford, the Orioles ran into a wall.

The Golden Eagles (16-1-2) found the scoreboard early in the sixth minute when Haukur Karlsson struck with a laser from outside the box that rattled the post and went in. They rang the post again in the 17th minute and also had a goal taken off the board due to an offsides. Tanner Keenan put Gilford up 2-0 in the 24th minute with a rifled shot past the fully extended dive of Conant senior keeper Ben Ramirez. Christien Nunez made it 3-0 in the final minute of the first half after a turnover at Conant’s backline.

Harvey put the Orioles on the board in the 54th minute with a shot from outside the box, but Conant couldn’t generate enough inside the penalty area to apply the pressure needed to even the score. Gilford made it a three-goal game again in the 61st minute.

“We definitely had nothing to lose,” said Thomas Harvey. “We just were going to come in and play our game and if they beat us straight up, then they beat us straight up. It is what it is. For an 11-seed, I’d say we did pretty good.”

“I can’t believe what we did this year,” said senior striker Josh DiPasquale. “We knew we had it in us but I think we all shocked ourselves. It’s a tough time, though, when you come this far and you lose.”

But even in battered defeat, with his jersey torn down the middle from the collar, DiPasquale was able to find some comfort in the context.

“It shows what we’ve done to improve,” he said. “Our chemistry outside of soccer helped us become a team and get through that roadblock of the quarterfinals three years in a row. It’s cool to say we were the first team to go to the quarterfinals, and the first team to go to a semifinal. That will always be something I think about when I think about Conant soccer.”