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SG Soccer: ETIAC Playoffs – Spartans Dominate!

11/3/2026

By Erik Van Dyke

After that emotional banner-clinching win over BCS to finish the regular season, there was only one brass ring left to grab – the ETIAC playoff championship trophy. For whatever reason, Stanstead College, despite winning more regular season banners than any other ETIAC team over the past 15 years, has had a really hard time winning the playoff trophy. In fact, the last SC team to win the playoffs was the 2021 team, who convincingly beat Galt in the final. The next four years, however, went like this:

2022 – win the banner, lose to Galt in the semis

2023 – win the banner again but heartbreakingly lose the semis to MVR in penalty kicks

2024 – lose to Galt in the semis

2025 – win the banner yet again, make the final, but lose to Galt in a soul-crushing penalty shootout (btw, my penalty shootout record over my SC career is 1 win vs 13(!) losses; yes, you read that right…)

2026 – win the banner for the fourth time in five years, make the finals, and…what comes next? Do we finally break this streak of losing in the playoffs?

Well, not only did this special team break the streak, they left no doubt while doing it, with a comprehensive 5-0 semi-final win over Massey-Vanier followed by a surprisingly clinical 3-0 shutout over a powerful BCS team in the final. Playoff runs don’t get any more dominant than that! Congratulations to your 2026 ETIAC league AND playoff champions!

Some memories from this magical week:

Sofia and Julia earning Player Of The Game honours in the semi, with Sofia constantly pressing the Vikings defence in her best game of the season, and Julia clearing – actually, more like bombing – the soccer ball farther than at any point in her life!
Not allowing MVR out of their defensive end for the first 18(!) minutes of the second half
Another cool-as-a-cucumber ice-cold finish from Esperanza from the top of the box
How well we communicated this game, and how connected we played
Watching the players cool down after the match with a game of “leapfrog”
The warmup for the final vs BCS, as locked in as I’ve ever seen us
The biggest goal of Katie’s life (as well as her did-you-see-what-I-just-did reaction), making it 2-0 midway through the first half with a bee-yoo-tiful finish low right corner
Mylee and Margot sharing Player Of The Game in the final, with Mylee at her buzzsaw cutback best and goalie Margot frustrating BCS to no end with her hands, her confidence, her athleticism, and most of all her utter command of the 18-yard box
No less than five (5!) girls playing through serious pain to earn the win – SO TOUGH – including Julia who, after a violent collision with a BCS striker, played the entire second half on an ankle that she could not even put weight on after the game
How picture perfect the last goal of the game was, Flavie to Kaitlyn on the wing, Kaitlyn up the line to Raf, Raf with the cross into the box, Mylee with the one-timer finish, exquisite team soccer, a fitting end to a brilliant season.
And finally, spending our last moments of the 2026 season TOGETHER taking celebration photos, on our home field, “Our House,” munching on Timbits from Julia’s mom

I’ll mention this in more detail at Athletic Assembly, but losing to a team (BCS) 6-1 early in the year and then beating them 3-0 in the final, I don’t know if I’ve every coached a team that improved that much. You guys just kept getting better and better. Every game. Trust. Positioning. Communication. Decisiveness. We had almost no practices the second half of the season, but you seemed to learn something every game and apply it the next time.

You made history this season, ladies. The first ETIAC Double (banner + trophy in the same year) for SC since 2021, with the last one before that happening way back in 2014. It is a rare feat, the ETIAC Double, but then again you guys are a rare team.

So a heartfelt THANK YOU from both Coach Goodsell and me for making this season so successful, memorable, and fun. We miss you already, and we can’t wait to see you one last time at Athletic Assembly.

!! Zimbabwe !!

Final Statistics

Overall Record: 12-3 ETIAC Record: 9-1

Goals for: 44 Goals against: 17

ETIAC Regular Season Champions

ETIAC Playoff Champions

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