On an afternoon where the Evanston High School boys’ soccer team honored its seven seniors for their years of hard work and dedication to the program, the Red Devils seemed to have everything working their favor: Great weather, a solid game plan, a large and vocal fan base and — most importantly — control of the match for about 70 of the 80 minutes Saturday against Natrona County.

It was the other 10 minutes that proved to be the home team’s undoing. Sitting on a 1-0 lead with under five minutes to play in the match, a penalty in the box gave the Mustangs a penalty kick, which they promptly converted to tie the game 1-1.

Forced to press the issue, Red Devils head coach Brian Richins had his players playing up, when Natrona’s keeper bombed the ball deep, catching Evanston’s defense out of position and creating a mismatch on keeper Jaeger Liechty for the winning goal.

“We played really, really well — really aggressive, and gave ourselves a ton of chances,” Richins said. “I thought our movement offensively was really good. I actually really felt good about where we played defense. There were some moments when we broke down, but I thought we did a really good job. But in the end, you’ve got to find the back of the net. And then to give up a penalty was unfortunate — not the way we wanted to do that. And so then, you give a team that’s won the one game all year a little bit of hope. And it’s amazing what happens there.”

It was a bitter pill to swallow, especially for the seniors, who were hoping to avoid Tuesday’s play-in game for the 4A West Regional Tournament, which — as it happens — is against Natrona County (2-12).

“It was a frustrating day, and really kind of a gut-wrenching day,” Richins said. “You know, I felt for those seniors — I felt like they did the things that they needed to do to come out on top. And then we weren’t able to.”

The Red Devils (2-11-1) got off to a fast start, with senior Brooks Searle scoring with barely two minutes gone off the clock, beating Natrona keeper Austin McNamee on the left side to make it 1-0.

There wouldn’t be another score until the game’s 75th minute, though the Red Devils created plenty of opportunities.

“Brooks scored that first goal, and we just assumed it was going to be the first of many,” Richins said. “When we were putting balls through and the kind of pace that both Brooks and Jordan were showing on their back line, I kind of thought, ‘Wow, we’re going to be golden.’ And then because of that, you know, I’m kind of hanging on as a coach. I’m looking at the guys on the bench knowing that there’s some guys I want to get in to keep legs fresh, but also knowing that we’re on a razor’s edge a little bit, and we need to get a couple goals. And we’re waiting. And waiting. The goals don’t come.”

Shortly after the second half began, the Red Devils were awarded a penalty kick, and a chance to extend their lead. Edwin Burgos was given the honors, but gave it a bit too much leg, sailing it over the cage and out of play.

Evanston’s defense continued to do its job, as the offense created shot after shot on Natrona’s net. Just when it appeared the Red Devils might be able to ride out their 1-0 lead controversy reared its ugly head with just under five minutes to play, following a nice save by senior keeper Jaeger Liechty. A heated moment between Jay Saavedra-Tase  — who had come to Liechty’s defense — and a Natrona player resulted in a yellow card for Saavedra-Tase and a penalty kick for the visiting team. The Mustangs converted the kick and the match was tied, 1-1.

“We were pushing to win at that point,” Richins explained. “We couldn’t settle for a tie, so we got way too far forward, and I probably didn’t sub enough in the back to keep legs and energy where it needed to be.”

A short time later, with the Evanston defenders playing forward, Natrona keeper McNamee bombed the ball over the top of everyone. The Mustangs’ Dylan Maxwell caught up to it first and chipped it past Liechty for the gamewinner, 2-1.

It was a bittersweet end to Senior Night for Richins’ seven seniors — Liechty, Mendez, Searle, Gael Vega, Davey Butler, Wyatt Johnson, Edwin Burgos, Clayton Cook and Rydin Mecham.

Asked what he’ll miss about this group, Richins said the athleticism and work ethic.

“They’re such an athletic group of kids,” he said. “You throw in Clayton Cook here at the end of his high school career. Jordan, Brooks and Edwin — there’s just a lot of really athletic kids in that group. And then there’s real dedicated kids. Davey Butler has been nothing but soccer for four years — he’s been to every open gym and every open field he’s been traveling with us on the road, going to turf wars. Just heavy commitment there. Rydin Mecham is similar, in that regard — doesn’t do another sport or hasn’t done another one the last couple of years. And yet he’s at everything and supporting everybody and working hard. Gael Vega, another one that has been around, hung around, hung around, and now this is his year, and he’s really stepped up. His athleticism is great. I don’t know if you’ve ever seen him smile, but he’s got one of the best smiles you’ll ever see in your life. He’s just a super nice kid and really been fun to be around. I’m going to miss a bunch of them. Jaeger — I mean, what do we do without him? You know, that’s one of the preaches during halftime was this kid needs a shutout. We haven’t had one all year. He deserves a shutout. Let’s get out there and do it. So another thing that was disappointing is we didn’t get him a Senior Night shutout, which would have been a special thing. Just a really good group of kids, a really good group of parents. They’ve been supportive throughout and helped lift the program. I’m going to miss them.”