At the last home game of the season on Thursday night, the Marcos de Niza girls soccer team suffered a scoreless loss to the Saguaro Sabercats, 4-0.

The Padres, 0-11 for the season, played aggressive defense, but had some offensive holdups that kept them from scoring.

The Padres have struggled to produce points this season. The loss to Saguaro marked the fourth straight scoreless game for the team.

Thursday was Senior Night for the Padres, and family and friends celebrated by gifting flowers, balloons, and posters to the players after the loss.

Head coach Manuel Varela said the seniors are going to be missed because of the bond they created with the team.

“I don’t know what to say, I’m just proud,” he said. “These girls have worked so hard together, and I have so much pride for my seniors, and all the girls.”

Varela leads a senior-heavy team with 10 of the 18 players graduating. He said that this is an especially difficult group to lose because almost all of the seniors have been playing together for three or four years.

The Sabercats scored their first goal n the first 16 minutes of play and stretched their lead to 2-0 just before the first half ended.

Marcos de Niza sophomore Jackie Soto had several strong offensive pushes, but she was unable to clinch any points.

Soto is a player that Varela is confident will take on a leadership role next season. The forward said that the team’s focus has been on scoring a goal, which she couldn’t make happen this game.

“We just need to play more as a team, and try to get the ball up,” she said.

After the restart, the second half went decisively to the Sabercats. At 36 minutes left, the Sabercats edged in a goal that bounced just out of reach of senior goalkeeper Britney Nunez-Figuero.

The energy of the Marcos de Niza fans picked up in the final 30 minutes of play. Two barely missed goal opportunities early in the half had the home stands erupting in cheers, which quickly turned to sighs.

With less than a minute left, the Sabercats coaxed the ball into the net and solidified the victory.

After the game, two Marcos de Niza seniors, Emily Payan and Sarah Castaneda, took down life-size banners that lined the stadium fences. The banners were decorated with each senior’s name, team picture and jersey number. The influence of the high number of graduating players was hard to miss.

Castaneda said that this game marked a turning point in the season and showed the Padres why they need to communicate more with each other.

“We played as a team, which at first, we weren’t really doing,” she said. “We actually got a few passes in and kept up with the other team, instead of just staying back like we did before.”

The midfielder went on to say that the team’s large number of seniors made for an interesting dynamic.

“Sometimes we butt heads with our own teammates and scream at each other, but hopefully for the last game, we bond together as it should be. Just make it worth it,” she said.

The Padres will play their last game of the season at Seton Catholic on Tuesday.