Three hours of a lightning delay. Three other state championship matches beforehand.
For a few moments on Saturday at Memorial Stadium in Columbia, it seemed rather doubtful Eastside boys soccer would get the chance to win a state championship that day.
Fitting then, that the Eagles didn’t get the chance to win it on Saturday. Instead, they won it on Sunday morning.
In what is believed to be the latest-finishing game in SC high school soccer history, Eastside boys soccer claimed the 2026 5-A D2 State Championship by beating Chapin in penalty kicks. The game — which was tied 1-1 going into the shootout — didn’t end until 1:37 a.m.
“At tryouts, I knew it,” said Eastside head coach Stephen Wood, who has now won two state titles in five seasons at Eastside. “I said it to everybody as soon as we had tryouts, that this team could win state.”
The match was fast-paced from the opening kickoff, with Eastside nearly scoring in the first minute and forcing a nice save from the Chapin keeper. In the 16th minute, a beautiful looping cross from Asher Wilson found the head of Ryder Martin, who emphatically knocked it into the bottom corner of the net.
Chapin equalized on a penalty kick in the 31st minute, and though both teams had several quality chances on frame throughout the remainder of the match, the score remained 1-1 through regulation and all overtime periods.
In the penalty kick shootout, Chapin missed two penalties, and Eastside senior GK Brandon Jaramillo saved the final kick to give Eastside the 3-2 win in penalty kicks.
“For the last kick, I looked over at my teammates, and I looked over at my loved ones in the stands,” said Jaramillo. “I put them in my head. I did it for them.”
“I had faith in Brandon that he was going to make at least one save,” said Wood. “He’s done it all year long. I’ve known that kid since he was born. Seeing him come up big like that in a game like this makes me so happy.”
After a decent, but not overwhelming, 11-7 regular season record, Eastside found a second gear in the playoffs. Playing as the No. 6 seed in the upper state, the Eagles outscored opponents 17-4 en route to the state title.
“After that last game of the season where we lost the region title to Byrnes, I think we all just got tired of losing, and we said we aren’t losing again,” said Jaramillo. “We flipped a switch. We lost that small championship, so we wanted to win the big one so badly. And we just didn’t stop fighting.”
Even into the wee hours of Sunday morning.
“It’s 2 in the morning, and I’m somehow not even tired right now,” said Wood, laughing.
“Standing in the middle of that circle with these guys, holding up that trophy, that makes it all worth it.”
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