The pain etched on John Pampalone’s face was real.

“Obviously, this is a very tough loss for us, getting this close,” said Pampalone, seconds after his Southern Regional boys lacrosse team completed the post-game handshake with Bridgewater-Raritan, an 8-6 winner in the NJSIAA Group IV championship on June 1 at Shore Regional High School. “I feel like I’m saying this for the fourth time, and it’s kind of getting hard, but we continue to close the gap.