On the same weekend the U.S. national team was eliminated from the World Cup by losing to Ghana, a Vineyard soccer team was playing in a big tournament of their own, and very much like the U.S., facing the same team that knocked them out of contention in the last go-around.

The Vineyard Under-13 team (U-13s) traveled to Lancaster to play Ludlow Friday morning in the Massachusetts Tournament of Champions (MTOC).

Ludlow was the same team that bounced the U-13s from the tournament last year in an overtime thriller decided by penalty kicks. Many of this year’s players were on last year’s team, and looking to even the score against Ludlow.

Unfortunately, the team lost 3-1 to Ludlow. The Island team played well despite some questionable calls by referees, but could never quite take control of the game.

“We missed a penalty kick, and one kick went right to the goal line, but jumped back out, similar to that play in the England [versus Germany] game in the World Cup,” said Matt Poole, assistant coach of the U-13s. “We had a chance to put them on their heels but didn’t take advantage. We lost to a good team; they were the runner-ups [in the tournament] last year, and they had a strong season,” he said.

The Island U-13s were 14-0 in the regular season and won their home playoff game against Barnstable last weekend, earning a berth in the MTOC tournament. After losing to Ludlow, they easily defeated Blackstone by a score of 5-1 later that afternoon, and then played to a 1-1 draw against Stoneham on Saturday.

But short on points, the Island U-13s did not advance.

Mr. Poole said his team had a stellar season and should be proud.

“We won all our regular season games, and we were right there in a game that could have put us in the finals. You can’t ask for more from a team. These kids showed a lot of heart, and I know the individual players will continue to have success in the future,” he said.

Meanwhile the U-15s also qualified for the tournament and made it all the way to the championship game.

They beat Scituate on Friday before losing 3-2 to Whitman in the finals the next day. They were down two goals in that game and clawed back to tie the contest at 2-2, but Whitman regained the lead in the closing minutes on a controversial goal after one of their players bowled over an Island player at midfield and then brought the ball down for a score.

Many on the Vineyard sidelines looked for the referee to call a penalty, but the whistle stayed in his pocket.

“I don’t want to dwell on negatives, because it was a great game and both teams played great, but that was a tough way to lose a game,” said assistant coach Trip Wadleigh. “So instead I focus on the positives: we got within a few seconds of going to overtime to win a championship. And that’s pretty great.”

Mr. Poole said youth soccer overall is thriving on the Vineyard; 350 youngsters play in the spring, and another 400 play in the fall, the largest number ever. Of the seven travel teams this spring, six made it to the playoffs in their leagues, all placing in the top three.

Only the U-13 boys’ team and the U-15 boys’ team won the right to represent their leagues in the MTOC.

Mr. Pool said the future for soccer is bright on the Vineyard.

“I would say there is a strong bubble of players about to break through to the high school level. There is talent at every level. I think the popularity of soccer on the Vineyard is on a big upswing. And the younger the players start, the more talented they become, it seems,” he said.

Mr. Wadleigh agreed.

“We sent two teams to the state tournament, one [U-13s] could have easily gone to the championship game, and our team was in the championship game, with a real chance of winning. It’s exciting stuff,” he said.