It was a heartbreaking way to end the season Saturday for the St. Catherine's boys soccer team.

University School of Milwaukee scored the only goal of the match in the final 30 seconds of regulation and beat the Angels 1-0 in a WIAA Division 3 sectional championship match at Kettle Moraine Lutheran in Jackson.

St. Catherine's finishes the season 17-5-2, while the Wildcats (19-4-1) will be making their first WIAA state appearance.

The Angels controlled the pace of play in the match, coach Ben Lake said, but they just couldn't put the ball in the net. Actually, they did do it once, but the goal was taken away on an unusual call. Lake said the officials ruled that a corner kick by St. Catherine's curved beyond the plane of the end line and back into play, making it a dead ball and negating a header by Mike Flancher.

"Talk about being shocked - that's the best feeling to describe it," Lake said of the disallowed goal.

Another shot by the Angels, one from the top of the 18-yard box by Cam Casper in the first half, hit the crossbar. Lake said St. Catherine's had the ball in University School's box many times, but couldn't generate any cohesive attack.

"It was one of those games where we controlled the rhythm of the game," Lake said. "We worked the ball from side to side. The ball was in their box bouncing around numerous times and we should have pounced on those balls. We had 20 to 25 balls we crossed inside their box and that didn't include corner kicks (the Angels had eight).

"We were behind them and attacking their goal, but it was one of those games."

The Wildcats didn't generate much offensively, getting just four quality shots on goal, Lake said, but their last one was the difference in the match. Goalkeeper Nick Bixler punted the ball downfield, but University School won the ball in the midfield, passed it into the box and finished with the goal.

"They had two connecting passes and the second one split three defenders and that was it," Lake said. "They had a bunch of kids who were older and stronger and their attack was very direct. They had the ball in the air a lot of times and won a lot of 50-50 balls and did a good job winning and settling those. Nothing happened that we weren't prepared for."

St. Catherine's tried to get a quick strike after the goal, but the Wildcats cleared the ball and the whistle blew to end the game.

The Angels, who didn't have anyone injured all season, started the match without midfielder Sergio Casillas, who was hurt near the end of their sectional semifinal victory over Shoreland Lutheran Thursday. And defender Jake Smith, a key starter, was injured in the second half on a hard tackle.

Lake wasn't using that as an excuse, adding that the underclassmen are already looking ahead to next year.

"We definitely left it on the field and gave everything we had," Lake said. "We have to get stronger physically and they're all talking about working in the off-season."