VENICE — Caked in mud from head to toe, Alyssa Brock fulfilled her captain duties in the wake of Friday’s Class 5A-District 10 girls soccer final.

Along with senior co-captain Molly Knight, Brock, Manatee’s senior goalie, accepted the runner-up trophy following the Hurricanes’ 5-0 loss to the Indians.

It wasn’t the bauble Manatee wanted. But on this night, they were willing to accept the fact the Indians just played better.

“When you make little mistakes and they just build up, it’s disheartening,” Brock said. “But we know as team we played our best. Sometimes you win some, and sometimes you lose some.”

Brock made 12 saves on the night, giving her 20 in Manatee’s two district tournament games. But Venice’s forward duo of senior Tina Trujic and junior Dana LaRocque proved too powerful to stop.

A forward, Trujic netted a hat trick while LaRocque assisted on one of the goals and added another herself. Trujic now has 26 goals on the year, while LaRocque has 29.

“No. 9 and No. 8 are dynamic,” said Manatee coach Kevin Cassidy, referring to LaRocque and Trujic, respectively.

“That’s it. They’re just connected. They know exactly what’s going on — when one’s going, the other knows exactly what the other one is thinking, it seems like, because they make those backdoor runs.

“The goalie is in position, and they just blast it by you. What can you do? All you can do is (say), ‘Nice shot.’”

The tandem hooked up for Venice’s first goal, with LaRocque feeding Trujic during the game’s 16th minute. Trujic scored again 13 minutes later.

Manatee (10-8-1) found some momentum during the second half, keeping the ball in Venice’s end but failing to put the ball in the net. That’s when LaRocque pounced, scoring unassisted midway through the half before Jessy Weber and Trujic added goals of their own.

“The second half, before they got the third goal, I thought we were kind of carrying the play a little bit there,” Cassidy said. “If we could’ve gotten one, who knows?

“And then they got their third one …”

All is not lost, however, for the Hurricanes. Regional spectators last year, Manatee still advances to the Region 3 tournament and heads to Tampa at 7 p.m. Thursday against an opponent to be determined.

“I wouldn’t be totally surprised if we’re not back here again (next Tuesday),” Cassidy said, speaking of a possible regional semifinal rematch with the Indians. “We’ll see.”

That’d be fine with Brock.

“It’s definitely motivation — we want to come back and we want to give them a challenge,” she said. “These are our rivals in the district, and it’d be nice to come back and give them a little bit of a challenge.”