Catholic Central played better this time against Cincinnati Summit Country Day, and Irish boys soccer coach Shane Latham was happy with his team’s effort. But that didn’t make his players feel any better.

Disappointment showed on their faces and in the long postgame hugs because the season is over.

The Irish lost 2-0 to Summit in the Division III regional semifinals Wednesday night after losing to the Silver Knights 5-0 in September.

“It was a 100 percent better performance,” Latham said. “We really competed tonight. We battled the whole game. We weren’t overrun by them. We defended very well and played smart.”

Still, it was a silent group of players that listened to Latham’s quiet postgame address on the sideline.

The ninth-ranked Irish (17-3-1) were in the game this time, unlike the first meeting when No. 3 Summit (16-2-1) scored off three early corner kicks.

“We played really well the first 15 minutes and put them away,” Summit coach Barnard Baker said. “This game we knew that wouldn’t happen. It wasn’t a trap game for us. We knew it would be a good game.”

Summit’s strategy of attacking the goal from long distance gave the Silver Knights a 1-0 lead with 5:22 left in the first half. Jack Meininger was unpressured from about 40 yards and found Caelan Hueber deep in the box for a header.

Summit had a goal disallowed late in the first half on a free kick from about 50 yards by Jake Rawlings. But the official signaled for an indirect kick and Rawlings’ kick was carried by the wind just under the crossbar and untouched.

The Irish had the wind at their backs in the second half, but Summit’s defense, which has given up only five goals this season, was unbreakable. Central junior forward Thor Beckdahl became the second Central player to score 40 goals in a season, but he never got a clear shot at the goal.

“Their four defenders are like center-mids or forwards on other teams,” Latham said. “They’re very technical, they’re fast, they’re big, very physical. They’ve got all the attributes.”

Summit iced the game with 17:23 left when Central was called for a foul in the box. Summit defender Joey Kunkel buried the penalty kick low and just inside the right post.

“I thought our game plan worked well,” Latham said. “We gave up a cheap goal in the first half, and then that real cheap penalty kick call – I don’t know where that came from. But bottom line I was very proud of the performance even though we lost.”