The Princeton girls soccer team may not have won its game Saturday, but the Tigresses have left their mark.

The Tigresses saw their best season in four years end with a 4-0 loss to favored Alleman Catholic in Saturday’s Class 1A regional final at Bryant Field.

Their 17 wins match the most by any girls team that Princeton coach David Gray has coached in eight years and has put the Tigresses back on the map as a team to be reckoned with and created excitement in the community.

“As a coach you’re out in the community and this year there’s a lot more people talking and asking questions about it. ‘Hey, I see the girls are playing well,’' Gray said. ”I think winning is a part of that. You win a bunch of games. But I think the way we play the game is entertaining for people. Had a lot of people comment how much fun they had watching the girls play.

“It created some interest and buzz. Hosting the playoffs helps. And I think today was the biggest crowd we’ve had in a long time.”

Princeton junior Ava Kyle enjoyed the excitement the team’s performance this season created in the community.

“We all worked really hard to get some recognition for ourselves,” she said. “You can see the stands today, they were filled. I’ve never seen that before. It’s really great to see

“It was so fun. We played so well this year. Our freshman year we knew this was a great group because we had so many great runs and we really went far this year. It’s really disappointing we didn’t make it past regionals, but we knew at the beginning of the season we’d have a tough regional and need to get past them to get through it. I think we played really, really hard today.”

It was Alleman’s fifth regional title in a row and seventh in eight years. The Pioneers will return home to play in their own sectional, facing Monticello (16-7-2) in the second semifinal match of the night at 7 p.m. Tuesday in Moline. The Sages beat Peoria Christian 1-0 on Friday.

Little freshman Anna Mayerhofer was just the ticket for the Pioneers, scoring a three-goal hat trick. She scored just two minutes into the action and added a second goal at the 6:23 mark to give the Pioneers a 2-0 halftime lead. She completed the hat trick in the second half with Harper Healey also scoring to put the match away.

“I’m very excited to get a hat trick,” Mayerhofer said. “I think (winning regional) brings us all together and shows how we can do good things.”

Gray said that quick, early goal by Mayerhofer really made a difference.

“We played hard, but put ourselves in a little bit of a hole with the first goal coming so quick and never really digging out of that,” he said. “There were stretches of the game I thought we were really good and put pressure on them. Had a few chances to score, but that’s a tough team.

“If you make mistakes, they generally make you pay for them and that’s what happened. We didn’t have a large margin of error when we made a couple of errors.”

Alleman dominated the play on both ends with 18 shots on goal while holding PHS to just three.

Gray and Kyle knew if the Tigresses wanted to win their first regional in four years, they’d likely have to get through Alleman. They set their sights on the Pioneers all along and were up for the challenge.

“When the regional pairings came out early, I had a feeling if we wanted the regional title it was going to have to be through them,” Gray said.

“There’s always been an Alleman. We kind of expected it at the beginning of the season,” Kyle said. “Last year we got lucky and got to play Mendota and that didn’t turn out the way we wanted. It’s disappointing, but I’m proud of these girls.”

The Tigresses’ 17 wins match the total won by Princeton’s 2022 regional championship team.