The Cape Coral High School soccer team’s historic run ended Friday night as the Seahawks fell 2-0 to the Monarch Knights from Coconut Creek in the Region 5A-4 Finals.

It is the farthest round of the regional soccer tournament the Seahawks have ever advanced. They were riding an eight-game winning streak and closed out the season with a 14-8-4 record.

Second-half goals from Monarch midfielder Raphael Ferreira and defender Diego Tique were the difference in a hard-fought game at Dave Warkentin Field.

The Knights started brightly, holding most of the possession for the first 10 minutes of the game and producing four chances. Two crosses – one cleared by the Seahawk defense, the other headed over the crossbar by forward Jefferson Dias – gave Cape early signs of their opponent’s intent.

The Seahawks, however, worked their way into the game, marking tighter in midfield and pushing the Knights back on their side of the pitch.

After a couple of promising Seahawk crosses found only Knight defenders, Cape forward Guillermo Duque produced one of the clearest chances of the first half. Duque created some space just outside the penalty box and found teammate Andrew Torres in the box with an exquisite pass, but Torres was unable to finish.

The Knights showed how dangerous they could be with a quick counterattack, but Seahawk goalkeeper Santi Villamil saved the initial shot and tracked down the rebound after a scramble in the box.

Most of Cape’s first-half chances came from the right side, and Duque again found some room on the flank, producing a sharp, dangerous low cross that found no takers.

Despite a few promising attacks, the Seahawks were not controlling the game.

Knight midfielder Felipe Nascimento created space for three shots before the end of the first half, but all three sailed right of the goal, ending a scoreless half.

The start of the second half was nearly mirrored the first, with the Knights producing a series of shots in the first five minutes. The Seahawks marched right back up the field creating the best chance.

After Nascimento fired a shot from just outside the box that missed by a razor thin margin, the Knights followed with three more chances, keeping the Cape defense under pressure.

In a sequence started by a Cape Coral breakaway down the left flank, the end result was a Seahawk corner kick. An arching ball found Zachary Sheffield unmarked in the box, but his header from point-blank range was saved smartly by Monarch goalkeeper Diego Cardoso.

The Knights’ midfield was beginning to regain their bearings, and a few neat passes on the left side created the breakthrough they were looking for 10 minutes into the second half. A pass from the left was headed for Monarch midfielder Omar Rivera, who stepped over the ball, leaving Ferreira to fire a well-hit shot into the right side of the net.

After the first goal, the Seahawks began to push up, searching for an equalizer. With only two defenders at the back, however, they looked vulnerable to counterattacks, eventually giving up a second goal when Tique pounced on an loose ball in the box.