By RYAN ARENA

L’Observateur

What has been the best season in the history of Riverside soccer came to an end Tuesday evening as the Lady Rebels fell at Catholic-New Iberia, 3-0, in the regional round of the Division III soccer playoffs.

Catholic-New Iberia, the fourth seed, advances to face fifth-seeded Sacred Heart-New Orleans in the state quarterfinals.

“Catholic has a few very good players,” said Riverside coach Stephen Millet. “We came out from the outset looking to have players behind the ball at all times and I thought we did a good job of making them work. But they kept possession of the ball. I guess we were a little outranked there, if I had to sum it up.”

Catholic led 2-0 at halftime.

Millet praised his team for its play in the game and throughout a season in which the Rebels (15-9-3) set a school record for wins in a season, captured its first district championship and then its first playoff victory in a dramatic 4-3 win over archrival St. Charles.

“I thought our girls played well. I wish we could have gotten a little further into our attack,” said Millet. “But with so many numbers behind the ball … when we did get the ball, we didn’t have the numbers up front. They did show a lot of character. No matter what the score was, there was no let up.”

He called the 2011-12 campaign a “huge season” for the Rebel program.

“Since I got here (in 2008), I’ve just wanted us to make progress each season. But this year we got some more tangible results for people to take notice of. First it was our record, then district results, and then our first playoff win.

“It’s a huge season, but at the same time, we can’t be satisfied. We want to build on playoff success. The bottom line for most people is that they want to see what you do in crunch time.”