Gone too soon for Concordia flag football
The Stingers ended their season at the conference tournament with a quarterfinal loss
The Concordia University flag football team exited the Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec conference tournament earlier than expected in 2026. After three straight title-game appearances and a 2024 championship, the Stingers exited the quarterfinals on Sunday, Oct. 25, falling 27-13 to the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM) Citadins.
Stingers head coach Alexis Labonté lamented the loss, but also used the opportunity to look ahead to the team’s spring tournament.
“We still have a tournament at the end of the year, the collegiate, so we're going to build until that,” Labonté said. “The defence was amazing, so we know defence can do well. Offence, we just need to fix some things, but it's still positive.”
The season marked a step back in terms of results for the Stingers. Concordia finished the regular season 6-1-3, with all three losses and its draw coming in four consecutive weeks from Sept. 27 to Oct. 11. This included a loss to the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières Patriotes, whom the Stingers had not lost to since 2021.
Despite their poor run down the stretch, the Stingers could not be counted out in the playoffs. Former Stinger and Team Canada player Sara Parker helped from the sidelines, who joined the coaching staff after her final season in 2025. After a 39-6 win over the École de technologie supérieure Piranhas in the team’s final regular-season game, it looked like Concordia could make another run.
However, UQAM represented possibly the worst potential matchup in the quarterfinals. The Citadins had already beaten Concordia once in 2026, in the final of the Football Québec winter league season and had the Stingers’ number once again in the conference tournament. Concordia scored on its first drive of the game, but the offence stalled while UQAM quarterback Athena Fragiadakis Ryan put the game out of reach.
Despite the loss, Parker celebrated the roster’s hard work and anticipated future success.
“We're excited to see what they're going to do in the offseason and where we're going to start off next season,” Parker said.
One of those players was wide receiver Ashley Longin, who became one of the team’s steadiest targets throughout the year. Longin praised the Citadins' performance, adding that the team always posed a threat.
“They're a great team, honestly. We studied them; they probably studied us,” Longin said. “We did our best; it's mutual competition. We know it's always going to be a good game moving forward with them.”
Concordia will have time to regroup and prepare before the winter league season begins in February. Labonté reiterated that he worries little about his squad, still loaded with veteran talent and now fired up after exiting the playoffs earlier than expected.
“We still have some vets on the national team too. So the talent's there,” Labonté said. “The good word is the culture. The talent's there, but we want everybody to fit in, everybody to follow the good steps. So we're going to see it in the future.”
This article originally appeared in Volume 47, Issue 4, published October 27, 2026.
