After losing so many players from last year’s team, it was expected that York’s girls soccer squad might experience growing pains.

It was the case early on, but the Lady Dukes found their groove just past the midway point of the season. And there was no slowing down over the past month.

Along the way, the Lady Dukes won their first regional title since 2002 and upset the sectional’s No. 2 seed St. Ignatius on its own field in the sectional semifinals.

The Lady Dukes’ postseason run, though, came to a close last Friday in a 4-1 loss to Hinsdale Central in a sectional championship game in Chicago.

Since a loss to Glenbard West on April 16, the Lady Dukes finished the campaign unbeaten in 12 of their last 14 games. They closed with a 14-6-3 overall record.

“It was a challenging year,” assistant coach Stephanie Downen said. “We started off battling at the beginning of the season. The girls overcame what we were dealing with at the beginning of the season, played great and ended great. I couldn’t be more proud of them, and I think the coaches feel the same way.”

York knew Hinsdale Central would come into the sectional final with some added motivation. Earlier in the year the Lady Dukes won the West Suburban Silver matchup 1-0.

There would be no shutout this time as Red Devil star forward Toni Kokenis gave her team a 1-0 lead 17 mintues into the game.

York, though, had controlled a majority of play and cashed in just moments before halftime. Freshman Courtney McHugh picked up a through ball and buried a left-footed shot to the left corner to tie it at 1-all with 3:42 left before the break.

“We were confident at halftime,” Downen said. “We were happy with the way they were playing and we felt good about things.”

The two teams battled for the first 10 minutes of the second half, but the Red Devils retook the lead with 29:42 remaining. Kokenis added to the lead by scoring on a penalty kick with 8:13 on the clock and netted her third goal with two minutes left.

All is not lost for the Lady Dukes, who graduate just five players. They will be big losses, though, in midfielders Jasmine Watkins and Alli Palumbo, defender Allie Cicinelli, goalkeeper Stef Matsas and back-up goalie Kaele Leonard.

Plenty of youth returns in McHugh and fellow freshman forward Christina Ordonez, sophomore starters Meryl Cripe, Sam Luke, Danielle Vujovic and MaryKate Cicinelli, along with sophomores Angela Bianchi and Taylor Navarro and juniors Katie Gratzianna, Ashley Bowman and Kendra Mills.

“Obviously we’d love to build on that next year,” Downen said. “Having this year of experience is going to help a lot at the start of next year. Definitely we’re sad about this, and our seniors contributed huge today and throughout the season. But we’re looking forward to next year coming back with the players that are returning.”