BUFFALO — Monday’s Section VI large school finals didn’t go the way Niagara-Wheatfield hoped or expected, but when the coaches and players looked at how far they’d come this season, they knew they had plenty to be proud of.

The Falcons’ challenging season came to an end with a 4-0 loss to Orchard Park at HarborCenter.

But while the challenges were there, so was character. Coach Rick Wrazin couldn’t say enough about the way his players refused to give up, even through the month of January, when the Falcons were unable to find a win.

“I couldn’t be more proud of them,” Wrazin said. “The year that we had and the January that we had, a lot of guys would have cashed it in in a winless month, and these guys didn’t. They just kept getting better throughout January, even though we weren’t winning.”

The Falcons continued to battle through that month and ended their regular season with a win against powerhouse St. Joe’s. Then came playoffs, and Niagara-Wheatfield defeated Clarence, 3-0, in quarterfinals behind a strong performance by goaltender Peyton Siegmann. The Falcons then upset No. 1 seed Lancaster 4-1 in semifinals before Monday’s tough loss in the championship.

“They just kept getting better, and they didn’t let it drag them down that they weren’t getting the W's,” said Wrazin. “They knew they were playing better and it paid off, so it says a lot about them and their character to get to this point and have the playoffs that they had after not winning a game in the whole month of January.”

The Falcons went into Monday’s game confident. They expected a tough opponent in Orchard Park, but the loss left them heartbroken and questioning what had gone wrong.

“I think we expected to play better, but (Orchard Park) played well,” Wrazin said. “We knew what we were getting with them. I feel like we were prepared. We shut down their transition pretty well. We still got it a few times but we didn’t give up a goal off it. We just couldn’t get anything going offensively.

"I think nerves got to us a little early, but I think after that we just couldn’t get rolling, and I think part of it was guys maybe afraid to make mistakes, or they were watching more than they were making things happen. It’s kind of like our feet were in the mud a little bit.”

“It just didn’t work for us, I guess, tonight,” said Siegmann.

Siegmann has played since he was a freshman, and he was a captain this year. He was quick to credit those before him for their leadership when he was the underclassman looking up to them.

“It’s crazy,” he said. “It flew by. When I started, I had people guiding me up — Matt Canada, Alex Bauer, Dom Tallarico. They were all guiding me, guiding the new players, and showing them the ropes, so you get comfortable here. It’s nice. You feel like a part of everything.”

Despite the heartbreaking end, the family Siegmann found at Niagara-Wheatfield changed his life, and he said he wouldn’t change a thing.

“It’s life-changing,” he said. “I don’t know where I’d be without this hockey team right now, and just everyone who was involved in every single team. All the coaches, they changed my life. I’ll love them forever. They’re always family. And then this year, it’s just, I had a blast. I couldn’t ask for anything else.”