Lessons learned in the sports world can be hard, and two York County high school teams learned that over this past weekend.

Both the Biddeford girls volleyball and Thornton Academy girls soccer teams steamrolled through their regular seasons. Both teams were unbeaten and earned monumental wins.

Thornton finished 14-0 for the first time in school history and beat Scarborough for the first time ever along the way. It also won the regular season Southwestern Maine Activities Association title for the first time since 1994.

Biddeford finished the regular season 14-0 for the first time ever and beat nemesis Greely on the Rangers’ homecourt for the first time in program history. That win completed the season sweep.

But regular season success does not always carry over into the fickle world of the playoffs, where each game is a must-win. The pressure builds for all teams involved, knowing there is no tomorrow if they have a bad day and lose.

Biddeford and Thornton Academy found this out on Saturday. Scarborough traveled to Saco for a Western Maine Class A semifinal game. The Red Storm did the unthinkable and scored three first-half goals en route to a 3-0 upset of the Golden Trojans, who had recorded 10 shutouts in 15 games. It just wasn’t meant to be for Thornton. Such is sports.

Biddeford traveled to Bangor’s Husson College for its third game with Greely. This time it was for the Class A state title. Biddeford won that title in 2010. Greely won the title in 2011. Both teams have been dominant forces in volleyball for several years, so something had to give on Saturday. Unfortunately for Biddeford, the old sports adage that “it’s difficult to beat a team three times in the same year” came true as the Rangers repeated as state champions with a 3-1 win.

While neither Thornton Academy nor Biddeford will win state titles in their respective sports, it is important to note that neither of their seasons were failures.

Too often in this country, we view anything less than a championship as a failure. That might be true in professional sports where it is the players’ and coaches’ jobs to win. It is also true somewhat at the collegiate level, where programs earn millions of dollars if their teams can win games.

In high school, however, winning is and always should be the byproduct of teamwork, dedication and education.

Both Biddeford and Thornton’s teams pulled together and gave their communities seasons of which they could be proud. They competed at the best of their abilities every night. They practiced hard, they studied hard and they focused.

No one in either Saco or Biddeford has a bad word to say about any of the players on either team, which is a testament to the coaches and athletes involved.

It’s never easy to lose and the girls should’ve been upset, but only for a little while. After further reflection on their seasons, they, along with the fans, should realize that they were all winners.

Ӣ Ӣ Ӣ

Today’s editorial was written by Sports Editor Al Edwards representing the majority opinion of the Journal Tribune Editorial Board. Questions? Comments? Contact Managing Editor Kristen Schulze Muszynski by calling 282-1535, Ext. 322, or via email at kristenm@journaltribune.com.