Fort Worth Country Day boys soccer gets together for a picture following the SPC Class 3A championship game on Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026.
Mike Waters
Special to the Star-Telegram
FORT WORTH
Head coach Mike Vincent knew his Fort Worth Country Day Falcons boys soccer squad would need to play error-free to dethrone the three-time reigning champion Cistercian Hawks in the SPC Class 3A title matchup.
They didn’t, and fell 2-0 in the championship match Tuesday at Country Day.
“We made several mistakes in this game,” Vincent said. “And a great team like Cistercian takes advantage of mistakes.”
Vincent said while his team may have lost a little momentum from the three-day layoff after the game was rescheduled due to inclement weather over the weekend, both teams had to make that adjustment.
“If anything the layoff gave both teams time to recover after having played back-to-back days,” he said.
In the title game, top-seeded Cistercian grabbed a 1-0 lead on a Charlie Kane goal with just under 14 minutes left before intermission.
Second-seeded Country Day could not generate any offense, and Cistercian tacked on another goal less than 12 minutes coming out of the break when Andrew Novoa found the net from about 25 yards away.
The stingy Cistercian defense, which did not allow a goal in its three playoff victories, helped the Hawks secure their fourth consecutive championship.
Vincent said the matchup was a fitting one for “the two best teams in the SPC.”
“Congrats to Cistercian,” he said. “But I am so very proud of my team. Our kids gave great effort, never quit.”
Fort Worth Country Day (18-3-2) ousted The Woodlands John Cooper School 1-0 in the semifinals after defeating rival Fort Worth Trinity Valley 3-1 in the quarterfinals.
Sewanee (Tenn.) signee Luke Vincent, son of the head coach, who was easily the team’s leader in scoring and assists for the season, recorded the lone goal in the semifinal win over John Cooper.
Country Day and Cistercian had battled to a 1-1 tie on Jan. 30.
“We liked our chances coming into the title match,” said Vincent, who has led Country Day since 2003. “We thought we had a great chance to win it. Just came up short.”
“This season was one of the best in program history,” Vincent added. “Tremendous job by the kids. I could not be more proud of them. We have seven seniors on this team who have meant so much to this program.”
Cistercian (17-0-3) has not lost a match during its run of four straight titles (62-0-8).
Retiring Hawks head coach John P. Walsh has overseen Cistercian for the past 19 years. His team’s four-peat has been an incredible run. It’s been 1,466 days since Cistercian boys soccer has lost a match, dating back to a 2-0 loss to Houston Kinkaid in the 2022 playoffs.
Cistercian’s 2024 squad did not allow a goal all season, and followed that feat by allowing just one goal during the 2025 slate.
This story was originally published February 17, 2026 at 10:37 PM.