THE PLAINS — The Gallia Academy soccer team had its magical season come to a close Tuesday night after suffering a 4-1 setback to host Athens during a Division II sectional semifinal contest at Rutter Field in Athens County.

The sixth-seeded Blue Devils (6-7-3) — who set a school record for wins this fall — fell behind 4-0 late in the first half until Corey Eberhard scored the Devils’ only goal of the evening with 5:27 left in the opening half.

Neither team scored the rest of the way, ending the contest at its three-goal outcome.

The third-seeded Bulldogs (11-4-2) — who advance to face second-seeded Chillicothe in the sectional final on Saturday — started the scoring in the sixth minute after Wesley Thompson netted a goal on an assist from Bob Carpenter to make it a 1-0 contest.

AHS increased that margin to 2-0 in the 19th minute after Jeff Hammonds scored unassisted, then Patrick Crist scored in the 28th minute off of an assist from Carpenter to make it 3-0.

The score remained that way until the 32nd minute, as Nathan Cotton scored on an assist from Crist to give the hosts a commanding 4-0 cushion with just over eight minutes to play in the half.

The Bulldogs outshot the Devils by an 11-4 margin. GAHS keeper Allie Troester made seven saves in the finale, while AHS keeper came up with three saves in the triumph.

Athens is also the defending D-2 district champion and tied Chillicothe 2-2 earlier this fall in the season opener. CHS advanced to the sectional final Saturday after posting a 6-0 victory over Waverly.

It was the final soccer game for seniors Allie Troester, Josh Jackson, Corey Eberhard, David Stout, Jeremy Ward, Terry Smith, Zeke Maher and Rachael Lyles with the Blue and White.