The Nansemond-Suffolk Academy boys’ soccer team fell 3-2 to host Hampton Roads Academy in the quarterfinals of the TCIS tournament this past week, ending but not even remotely overshadowing a landmark season for the Saints.

Before this year, NSA had gone without a win in boys’ soccer since 2011. The Saints finished their 2014 season with a 5-10-2 record.

“They had such a good season,” Nansemond-Suffolk coach Patrick Whelan said. “We’ve made great progress, and we’ve been seeing it coming for a lot of years, and the guys have all bought into the system.”

They came together to produce NSA’s best finish in recent years in the Tidewater Conference of Independent Schools, placing sixth out of 10 teams in the regular season, taking the No. 6 seed in the tourney.

“It’s been at least three years since we’ve made the conference tournament,” Whelan said.

The Saints played well on Tuesday against HRA, one of the top teams in the TCIS, and gave Whelan and Nansemond-Suffolk soccer fans plenty of reasons to be excited about what lies ahead for the program.

“It was sort of a look into the future of how our team can really compete with anyone,” Whelan said on Wednesday. “Our senior leaders and everybody else, they left it on the field yesterday, which is what you always want.”

The game featured several of the players that he highlighted as season standouts, though he noted he could appropriately list all 17 players on the roster.

Sophomore Tanner Jackson put the Saints ahead early with an unassisted goal in the first half, continuing his remarkable growth from his freshman year.

“He scored zero goals last year, and he scored 11 this season,” Whelan said.

NSA’s second goal came from freshman Chris Morgan, who was tied for third on the team with three goals this season.

“Every one of those was vital,” Whelan said.

The coach directed a significant amount of praise toward sophomore Ryan Griffin, noting the young goalkeeper had an incredible season.

“I think he ended up saving three (penalty kicks),” Whelan said. “He kept us in just about every game he played in, and to do so as a sophomore, he was easily one of the best goalies in the conference and has two more years of playing at the varsity level to just improve. He saved a PK yesterday to keep us in the game.”

Senior Josh Gabri assisted Morgan’s goal on Tuesday, adding to his team-high 11 assists this year, to go with four goals.

Junior Patrick Crossman scored three goals this year, while senior Cole Jackson and sophomore Garrett Leicester showed strength on defense.

Summing up NSA’s successful season, Whelan said, “It was sort of just a perfect coming together of age, experience and skill, all underlain by work ethic and attitude.”

Highlighting Cole Jackson, Gabri, Punit Barot, Taylor Bridgeman, Rohan Koduri and Phillip Lanzafame, Whelan said, “‘Deserve’ is a tough word in sports, and yet nobody is more deserving of the success than this group of six seniors that are finishing up their time with us.”