Falling one point shy of playoff contention and losing, 7-3, left the Wareham/Carver hockey team sitting in the locker room for nearly half hour on Wednesday.

“It’s upsetting because we didn’t make the tournament. We should have made the tournament,” goalie Marquis Almeida said.

“We got a lot of upset kids in there, a lot of tears,” coach Bryan Erikson said. “As much as I don’t like to see it, it’s good for them. It keeps them hungry. It will leave a taste in their mouth they didn’t like.”

The 7-3 loss came to East Bridgewater at the Gallo Ice Arena in Bourne.

“I was sad, but I don’t think I was as sad as the other kids because I look back at this season as a good experience instead of a bad one,” captain Craig Lauzon said.

Despite the loss and falling short of post season contention, the team grew immensely over the course of the last two seasons.

“There’s nothing to be ashamed of,” Erikson said. “We got hearts of champions.”

In the 2012-2013 season, the team went winless.

“Coming in, I knew it would be a big thing for the high school after going 0-18. It was a hell of a team,” Almeida said. “Everybody loves each other, and just a great group guys, they worked hard.”

This season, the Vikings went 9-10-1.

“At the beginning of the year, I hate to say because coach might be mad, but I predicted five wins,” Lauzon said. “I never thought we could have done this.”

“This was by far the best year I’ve ever had, the best team I’ve ever played for,” Lauzon said.

The loss came on senior night, and fans gave a final salute to Almeida and Lauzon.

“At the beginning of the game, when I got called up to take the flowers, I nearly cried,” Lauzon said. “I’ve never been cheered for like that in my life.”

With his starting goalie leaving, Erikson has already named a successor: Derek Miller.

“We’re losing Marquis, which is a loss in goal. He’s a good kid. He had a good year,” Erikson said. “Derek Miller is an outstanding goalie, and he’s more than ready to step up."

Erikson has also selected his captains for next year.

“I’m really thrilled to announce that we’ll have three captains for next year: Sean Fagan, Pat Hurley and Stephen Toal,” Erikson said. “They can take over what Craig instilled in them. They’ll be good captains, and will lead this team to good things.

Erikson referred to his team as a “sophomore team.”

“We’ll be in the tournament next year,” Erikson said. “We’ll be playing for a seed.”