HILLSBORO — Losing in penalty kicks is a brutal way to drop a soccer match — and it might be worse when the penalty kicks happen in regular time and not after two overtime periods.

The top-seeded Summit boys soccer team saw its chances at repeating as state champions crumble when No. 2 La Salle scored two second-half goals, both on penalty kicks, to win 2-1 in the Class 5A title game Saturday at Hillsboro Stadium.

“It’s just frustrating,” said Summit coach Tom Bunnell. “That is the way this sport goes. That is why I always joke and say, ‘I hate soccer.’ It’s super disappointing. We had such a great season and could have won this game. It would have been nice if (La Salle) had scored a goal instead of two penalties.”

“It just sucks,” said senior defender Gabe Lachman. “You always want to go out on a high-note and that’s not what we ended up doing.”

The Storm survived a flurry of Falcon corner kicks in the first five minutes of the match. Summit senior goalkeeper Lucas Carter made sure there would not be an early goal with a leaping save.

It was the Storm (15-3-1 overall) that put the ball in the net first when senior midfielder Kaden Roskowski scored in the 25th minute. The goal came off a corner kick. The ball found its way to senior forward Ethan Wheeler who lofted a perfect pass into the box. The 5-foot-8-inch Roskowski outjumped a La Salle defender and headed the ball over La Salle goalkeeper Adam Clem’s outstretched arms to give the Storm the early advantage.

It was the second goal in a state title match for Roskowski. He also scored as a freshman on the Storm’s 2021 title team.

“That was amazing to go up 1-0,” Roskowski said. “I got to score again in a state championship so that was cool. I was surprised I got up that high, they have some tall players. To get over them and score, that was amazing.”

But one goal would not be enough against the Falcons (13-5-1).

In the 53rd minute, a foul in the 18-yard box resulted in a goal by La Salle’s Conor Garvey on a penalty kick to even the score 1-1.

The Storm nearly got the winning goal in the final three minutes when Roskowski fired a shot from 45-yards away, catching Clem off guard, but the ball ricocheted off the cross bar.

“I looked at it and said, ‘Please go in,’” Roskowski said. “It hit the post and I hit the post every game. That is how it goes sometimes.”

As the clock ticked away in the 80-minute match, another foul happened in the 18-yard box, giving the Falcons another penalty kick with 90 seconds remaining. Again, Garvey buried the penalty kick to give La Salle the 2-1 lead.

The final horn sounded and the Falcon players celebrated, while the Storm players laid on the ground with exhaustion, coming up just short of their ultimate goal.

“I thought we did a good job of playing with them,” Lachman said. “There were a few moments of the game that we didn’t take advantage of. I was super proud of how everyone played. We all wanted it. It just sucks to go out this way.”