The painted chests of the student spectators said it all for the Heritage High School girls soccer team - Pride.

Despite losing 1-0 to Frank Cox in the Virginia AAA girls soccer semifinals June 10 at Westfield High School, Heritage knows they have a lot to be proud about.

“It’s been an amazing season,” Pride first-year coach Gabe Ascunce said. “No one thought we’d get out of our district; we did. No one thought we’d get out of our region; we did.”

The Pride (13-9) enjoyed an unexpected playoff run after concluding their regular season with a scorching 9-0 loss to Battlefield. The two teams would rematch two more times, in the Cedar Run District and Northwest Region championship games, with Battlefield winning both, 3-0 and 4-0 respectively. 

Undaunted, the Pride fought on, defeating heavily favored and then undefeated Deep Run High School on penalty kicks in the state quarterfinals to earn a trip to the state semifinals.

During Friday’s semifinal match, the Pride kept pace with the Eastern Region champion Falcons.

The game was scoreless through the first half and most of the second half. The drought was broken in the 72nd minute of play with a breakaway goal by Jessie Klamut.

“It’s an honor we even got this far,” said Heritage senior goalie Lauren Furtner, who had nine saves in the semifinal game. “If you would have asked me about making it to the state semifinals at the beginning of the season, I would have laughed.”

Cox advanced to Saturday’s state championship game where they lost to McLean, 3-2. 

Heritage will not have to face the same foes next year, as the Leesburg school moves back down to the Group AA classification next school year.

They will, however, keep their Pride.