Ireton's Olivia Cole had 8 saves in the Cardinals 12-9 setback to Milton Georgia on Lax DayVIII Saturday.
It was a week of endurance April 24-28 for the BI Women’s Lacrosse Team with three games in six days. The team came away with two decisive victories over the St. Mary’s Ryken Knights and the Bishop McNamara Mustangs in WCAC action but ended the week suffering a disappointingly close loss against the visiting team from defending Georgia state champion, Milton High School.
Tuesday, April 24th the Cardinals ran over the St Mary’s Ryken by a final score of 19-5. At halftime the Cardinals led 13-3 with Maddie Zeigler having scored three times, Gabby Barowski, Sadaf Najafzadeh, and Ellie Marrin each scoring twice. Kelly Mathews, Charlotte Sofield, Kendall Cunningham, and Kathryn Gasper each contributed one more point to the board.
The Cardinals played a conservative style in the second half with Maddie Zeigler scoring an additional two goals while Ellie Marrin, Sadaf Najafzadeh, Ciane Puglise, and Mackenzie Whalon finishing out the game with a goal each.
Friday, April 28th Bishop Ireton traveled across the Potomac River to face off against the Mustangs of Bishop McNamara. The Mustangs were overwhelmed by Cardinals in a shut-out victory of 17-0. It was a day for the offense as Ireton brought home 17 goals out of an attempted 27 shots. The Cardinals’ defense gave goalie Olivia Cole the day off as she point-blank stuffed the one shot she faced the entire game. So dominating was the Ireton play that the Mustangs never made it to the Cardinals’ end of the field the last 15 minutes of the game. Maddie Zeigler and Kelly Mathews both had a good day with four goals and one assist each. Kendall Cunningham scored twice and Aubrey Gartlan, Charlotte Sofield, Eva Irwin, Kathryn Gasper, Christine Macey, Natalie Irwin, and Margaret Nealon each scored once.
Saturday, April 28th was a big day for Ireton as the Cardinals hosted the 2012 Bishop Ireton LAX Day VIII. Starting off in the early morning hours with a two-hour clinic for up and coming girls stars, the balance of most of the day consisted of a series of Northern Virginia Youth Lacrosse League girls games ranging from the 3rd to 8th grade levels. The feature of the day was the Cardinals (ranked 148th) facing off against the nationally ranked (95th) Milton Georgia team. (Nearly 2400 girls varsity teams are ranked by LaxPower)
The scouting reports proved to be on target as Milton roared back from a 3-goal halftime deficit to prevail, 12-9. Initially in the first half, Ireton came on strong with Aubrey Gartlan placing the first score on the board six and a half minutes into the game. Scoring against the talented Milton goalie, Lauren Ragsdale, did not prove easy but Maddie Zeigler scored ten minutes later with an assist from Megan Fyffe. Margaret Nealon, Charlotte Sofield (assisted by Maddie Zeigler) and Maddie Zeigler followed with a goal each finishing off the first half with the Cardinals clinging to a 5-2 advantage.
Milton stole the momentum early in the second half. The visitors pressed the Cardinals early and Ireton’s Olivia Cole made 4 big saves in the first five minutes, although Paige Winsness and Amanda Lockwood found the back of the net within the half’s first 5 minutes. Following an Ireton timeout, Kelly Mathews gave the Cardinals some relief to push the lead back to 6-4, but Lydia Casssada responded with one her game high 4 goals at 15:31 to tie the contest after Mackenzie, Iech, had pulled Milton back to within a goal. 45 seconds later Cassada gave Milton its first lead, one they would not relinquish at 7-6.
The Cardinals traded goals with the Georgia school but couldn’t close the gap as the game wore on and Milton gradually opened a 10-7 bulge with 3 minutes to play. Zeigler scored to get Ireton within 10-8 at the 2:24 mark, but Milton’s Annie Ruland and Cassada would answer in the game’s final 100 seconds while Charlotte Sofield ended the day’s scoring with :28 seconds remaining for a 12-9 final count.
The redbirds dominated the groundballs on the day by a 26-14 margin and held 13-10 advantage in draw controls. The home team actually outshot the visiting Georgians 23-21, but Milton stepped up with 14 shots in the second period, doubling their first half output. In contrast, Ireton had 13 shots in the first half, but mustered only 10 in the final period of play. Milton committed 14 turnovers on the afternoon to Ireton’s 11 and both goal keepers record 8 saves for the day.
Bishop Ireton will finish the regular season this week at Elizabeth Seton on Tuesday and by hosting Flint Hill on Friday. WCAC tournament play opens Monday, May 7th with play-in games, semifinals commence on Tuesday, May 8th. Sitting in the third seed currently, the Cardinals look to host the WCAC’s 6th seeded team on Fannon Field. A win would likely send them to face the second seeded Tartans of Holy Cross on Thursday in Kensington. The winner there will likely get 7 time champion, Good Counsel on Monday, May 14th at the University of Maryland’s Ludwig Field. Championship game is slanted for 5pm and admission is $10. State playoffs begin May 15th, and the third seeded Cardinals will likely be back at home for a first round contest in the VISAA tournament.
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