The Inter-Mountain photo by Joey Kittle Senior Hayden Ferguson (24) had one of the Tigers’ goals in Saturday’s regional semifinal setback to Robert C. Byrd.

ELKINS — Despite falling just short of reaching the Class AAA state tournament, Elkins boys soccer coach Scott Cutright was pleased with the effort of his team this fall.

“It was an incredible season for our team and we had some great performances this year,” Cutright said. “We finished third in the Big 10 Conference, which is the best finish since joining the conference, and one of the best records this program has had in nearly two decades.”

The Tigers’ season concluded in a 4-2 setback to Robert C. Byrd in the regional semifinals on Saturday.

Elkins fell behind 3-0 at halftime but used second-half scores from seniors Hayden Ferguson and Kayden George to fight back.

“RCB came out with some great energy and had two really nice goals, and then found a third goal on a corner in the first half,” Cutright said. “That was a pretty big hole for us to climb out of, but I’m proud of how we fought back in the second half.

“Unfortunately it just wasn’t enough.”

The Tigers finished with a 13-4-4 mark and will return a strong nucleus next year.

“I couldn’t be prouder of this team and our seniors for what they achieved this season,” Cutright added.

The Flying Eagles will visit top-seed Bridgeport this evening for the Region II title and state tourney berth.

In the girls regional final this evening, top-seed Bridgeport will also host No. 2 RCB.

The state tournament will be held Nov. 5-8 in Beckley.

Starting this season, sectional play has been eliminated, with larger regional tournaments now the format.

The state tournament will now include teams from AAAA, AAA and AA-A.