Barnstable Upsets Orleans In Women’s Soccer Final

The final game in the 2026 Cape Cod Women’s Soccer League season was a tale of two teams. One team struggled all season, fighting to field a full team throughout the summer. The other team had its share of struggles, starting the season 0-4 before winning six of the following eight games (including playoffs). Last week they faced off for the bragging rights and a league trophy.

On July 30, fourth-seeded Barnstable United (3-7) beat third-seeded Orleans Surf (5-6) 3-2 in penalty kicks to win the league championship at Monomoy Regional High School. Barnstable head coach Sean Quinn reflected on his team’s performance after the gritty win.

“This has been a really hard season for us,” said Quinn. “We finished in last place and we won on Tuesday, followed it up tonight with some hard-fought plays. We have won the league in the regular season [the past] three seasons in a row and lost in the playoffs. This is the first time we finished in last and made [it through] the playoffs.”

The game started off quickly for the Surf. Mary Jo Murphy scored on a breakaway with a ball on the ground at the lower right corner of the goal at about the 11-minute mark in the opening half. At that point, it was a matter of feeling each other out, with both the Surf and United playing excellent defense and both goalkeepers controlling anything that made its way toward their net.

After a quick half, United raised the urgency of the evening, with Livi Varetimos scoring two quick goals that drew admiration from the Barnstable bench and the stands. Orleans answered with about 10 minutes left in regulation when Emma Cox was able to score and tie the match 2-2 at the end of the regulation.

Quinn and Orleans head coach Steve Austin met with officials and decided on playing two 10-minute halves for the overtime session. The extra gameplay was a mix of the two halves of regulation, with both teams keeping the heightened intensity of the second with the strong defensive play of the first. Orleans and Barnstable both had opportunities to get ahead, but each team found a way to keep the score tied through timely goalkeeping and team defense.

Savannah Nevins shot first for Barnstable United in penalty kicks. Standing 12 yards away from the goal, she went low on the left corner of the net and managed to guide the ball past a diving Abigail Leighton, goalie for the Surf.

First for the Surf was Marissa Gorog. She tried to sneak the ball over the head of United goalkeeper Yvonna Press, but Press was able to swat it away, giving United the lead.

Varetimos was up next. She went low, to the right of the net, and was able to score again as the ball passed by Leighton. Next up for the Surf was Christine Moodie. She went to the same location as Varetimos did and had success, getting the Surf on board at the end of the second round, 2-1.

Phoebe Papavasiliou went next for United, also going bottom right and finding success. Brigid Murphy kicked for the Surf in the third round. She kicked against trend, darting the ball in the top left corner of the net, bringing the score to 3-2 at the end of the round. 

Izzie Almedia started the fourth round for United. She scored low and away for Barnstable, putting the pressure on Orleans’ Ciarra Terry. Terry went top left, hitting the left top rim, and the ball bounced out of the net, causing Barnstable to rush the net once officials ruled they won.

Quinn credited his team’s chemistry as part of their late-season resurgence.

“We had a core of about 10 players who were consistent there every game. And they were the foundation of the team. They were the ones that were able to kind of bring everyone together,” said Quinn. “You know, we went down 1-0 tonight. We got everyone back. We took the lead. We gave it up. It was a great game.”

The loss ended a run from Orleans that had them overcome a 0-4 start to the season. Austin downplayed the accomplishment, pointing to the success as a result of player availability.

“Well, we only won six games. So, it's not like we caught fire. What happened at the end of the season was I finally got players,” said Austin. “Early in the season, we went down to Falmouth, the first game of the season, had 10 players, and by the end of the game, [we] only had seven on the field because three got hurt. And we went through that the first half of the season, not having numbers, etc. And finally, we started to get some numbers. It's nice to have somebody on the bench yelling at you.”

The Cape Cod Women’s Soccer League season started on June 11. The team from Sandwich finished first in the regular season before losing to Barnstable in the playoffs. The second-place finisher in the regular season, Falmouth, lost to Orleans in the playoffs. 

For more information on the league, visit ccwsl.org.