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For 76 minutes the DeMatha High School boys' soccer team outplayed Gonzaga (D.C.), dominating possession and getting numerous scoring chances.

But for the second consecutive game against the Eagles, DeMatha was unable to find the back of the net, falling 1-0 on Sunday in the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference title game at the Maryland Soccerplex in Germantown.

Gonzaga's Earl Hamilton sent a cross from Will Carroll into the left side of the DeMatha net in the game's fourth minute. The Eagles then packed it in on defense the rest of the way.

DeMatha (19-3) dominated play the rest of the game, outshooting Gonzaga 9-4, and having a 6-1 advantage in corner kicks, but couldn't put anything past Eagles' goalkeeper Chris Rubel.

"Well, when they score so early the simple thing for any team to do is to back it in with numbers," said DeMatha coach Dafydd Evans. "They crossed our half three times in the second half, but when you defend with numbers sometimes it's hard to break them down."

DeMatha's Lester Hayes, who scored the game-winner in a 2-1 semifinal win against McNamara on Friday, had three great chances to get the Stags on the board. He sent two headers over the crossbar in the first half and had a low shot inside Gonzaga's box, which Rubel kick saved.

"Honestly this game should have been ours," Hayes said. "We had so many chances. I had twice where I missed [headers]. I hit one over the bar, another one the goalie made a lucky save. I hit it to his other side and he sticks his leg out. But there's nothing we could do. Just have to wait for next year again."

Two of DeMatha's three losses this season came against Gonzaga (15-7-4). After a 3-0 win at home Aug. 31, the Stags suffered a 1-0 defeat on the road Oct. 2 against the Eagles.

DeMatha failed to get any solid scoring chances off of its six corner kicks. Most of the chances were either headed out by defenders or punched out by the keeper Rubel.

After the loss, Evans emphasized his view that the champion of the WCAC should be based on the regular season standings and not the postseason.

"I'm disappointed being 16 points ahead of them [at the end of the regular season] that they were even allowed to play for a championship," said Evans who said it's common sense that the results throughout the whole season should determine a champion like they do in most professional leagues around the world. "I'm not sure sometimes what young men learn from this. Do they learn [from] being not at their best all year but winners at the end?"

It's the second year in a row that the Stags failed to claim the WCAC title. A year ago they fell in the semifinals. The team will graduate 10 seniors, but for returning players like Hayes the motivation will be there to finally take home a title.

"Next year I'm not settling for second place," he said. "I want it. Gonzaga better be ready, next year I'm taking it."