For 76 intense minutes, the FAA Soccer Tournament quarterfinal-round game between longtime neighborhood rivals Greenwich Academy and Sacred Heart Greenwich hung in the balance, with both teams having their moments throughout this back-and-forth matchup.

The host Tigers and Gators each had several scoring opportunities yet this scoreless postseason game – the latest in a series of high drama matchups between these rivals – seemed destined for overtime.

Then Tian Ettelson struck, sending Greenwich Academy into the semifinals.

Ettelson’s goal off an assist from Maia Bostwick gave fifth-seeded Greenwich Academy a dramatic 1-0 win over fourth-seeded Sacred Heart Greenwich in the FAA Tournament quarterfinals on Nov. 5. GA heads to Westport today for a 1:30 p.m. game against No. 1-seeded Greens Farms Academy in the FAA semifinals.

The previous time Greenwich Academy visited Sacred Heart, the Tigers were victorious, prevailing, 2-1, in the regular season matchup on Sept. 26. – a game GA didn’t forget.

“We played a tough, tough game against them earlier in the season and they got two really nice goals off set pieces, so we came into this game feeling we had something to prove,” Greenwich Academy coach Kate Sands said. “Today, Sacred Heart played a great game, they put us on our heels and our kids stayed tough and rode out the tough moments. I’m really glad we got a goal there at the end and were able to prevent overtime.”

The game-winning goal occurred in the 76th minute – with 3:36 remaining in the second half. Awarded a free after a foul, Greenwich Academy junior Julianna Kreuzer lofted her free kick from the left side toward the right side of the goal. Bostwick got her right foot on the kick, sending the ball back to Ettelson, who was positioned near the center of the box. She deposited her shot inside the farl eft corner of the goal, giving GA a 1-0 lead.

“Maia Bostwick tried to bicycle kick it and she did a tap and I struck it with my left foot to the upper left,” said Ettelson, a freshman. “I was really happy, especially for my seniors, because I want one more game with them.”

Following the game’s lone goal, the Gators were able to keep the ball out of harm’s way and held on for the hard-fought one-goal victory. The loss ended Sacred Heart’s season and prevented it from defending their FAA Tournament championship. The 2023 season saw the Tigers capture both the FAA Tournament and regular season championship. They were victorious against Greens Farms Academy, 2-1, in the 2023 FAA Tournament final.

“I thought we were in good control of the game all the way through,” Sacred Heart coach Stuart Smith said of Tuesday’s quarterfinals. “We weren’t creating much at that point, so I thought we were heading into overtime and that goal came as a surprise. We conceded a free kick, they sent it forward, we dealt with the first ball and it was a great finish.”

Smith was highly impressed with Ettelson’s goal, which saw SHG junior goalie Olivia Figueiredo make a great, diving attempt in an effort to try to make the save.

“If there is a way to make it easier to lose a game like this it’s that we lost it on an incredible goal,” Smith noted. “It was a goal worthy of winning a quarterfinal and I have to hand it to them for finishing, there’s nothing we could have done to stop it.”

Sands credited junior Juliana Kreuzer for helping pace the GA’s strong defensive effort.

“Juliana Kreuzer led us defensively all season, she’s been absolutely unstoppable for us,” Sands said. “She’s the heart of our defense.”

Lucre Berardi, a freshman, sophomore Delaney Enright, senior Sarah Huber and junior Maggie Whidden rose to the significant occasion defensively as well, while senior tri-captain/goalie Este Tejpaul made three saves in the shutout win.

“I thought we did really well, in the beginning we definitely got a little tired at the end of the half and after we changed our strategy, woke up and got the adrenaline, we definitely played more offensive in the second half,” Tejpaul said.

Senior Morgan Sfreddo, a captain and freshman Katherine Petrillo helped lead the Tigers’ defensive play, while senior captain/forward Madison Hartnett was active up front throughout. Like Tejpaul, Figueiredo made several saves in goal.

“I thought in the first half we played really well, we created some good opportunities that we should have put away,” Smith said. “The second half it was a midfield battle, we couldn’t create chances in the final third. It was a strange second half. I thought we had better possession and control of the ball over the 80 minutes, but sometimes games don’t go to the team that has more possession. It goes to the team that takes their chances and they took their chance.”

Sands appreciated how well her squad played throughout and the adjustments they made.

“I thought our first 20 minutes or so were really strong,” Sands noted. “We talked about ways that we could keep them forced into their defensive third and our team did that really well. As the game started to go on, they started to get behind us little more. They were playing a lot of long balls and they put us on our heels a little bit. Toward the end of the game, we had our chances and we were definitely playing well at the end of the game.”

Greenwich Academy (7-3-1 record in the FAA) is captained by Tejpaul and seniors Gianna DeBono and Ruby Montanez. Along with Kreuzer, Whidden, Enright and Berardi, DeBonno made her presence felt defensively and was active throughout this quarterfinal-round match.

“It feels like a lot of our hard work is paying off,” DeBono said. “Advancing to the semifinals feels fantastic, this has been something we’ve been working towards. Not just for this season, but for all of the years that I’ve been on the team and everyone else has been on the team.”

DeBono discussed the defensive effort that went into the victory against their formidable SHG foe.

“Defense is tough, there are quick turnarounds all the time and you have to keep your head up constantly,” she said. “You always have to be ready for a change of mindset and be aggressive, go hard and never let up.”

Montanez noted that GA raised its intensity level in the second half.

“When we had a huddle at halftime and we all looked at each other and said we have to want it right now,” Montanez said. “We had to bring ourselves up and bring ourselves together and say ‘who wants it more?’ We knew that we needed to want it more.”

The Tigers were led by senior captains Sfreddo, Hartnett and Wilkerson throughout the season, as they displayed standout leadership.

“It’s been a great group of girls this year,” Smith said. “They really care about the program and they were trying to repeat what they did last year. They wanted to get the FAA trophy back here again. We won it here last year and the captains and seniors were all part of that. We wanted to do that for them again. You could see the girls were playing for the seniors and they wanted to give them another game. The seniors were a big part of us winning the FAA league and tournament last year, so they’ll always have that legacy.”

Should Greenwich Academy defeated GFA in today’s s semifinals, it will play in Saturday’s championship game.

“I feel like I always have fun playing GFA, but in general, it’s exciting to play the minute and see what happens,” Tejpaul said.

“This team’s got a lot of positive energy and they’re ready to go for the rest of the tournament,” Sands said.

“I think that GFA is an amazing team and we’re also an amazing team,” Montanez said. “We beat them in regular season and I’m ready for it.”