Bishop Ireton High School | Archive | September, 2014

As Bishop Ireton begins WCAC play in earnest, they lost a narrow 2-1 contest to preseason favorite, DeMatha, on Tuesday before rallying late to dispose of diocesan rival, St John Paul the Great, 4-1 on Fannon Field Friday.

The Cardinals spotted DeMatha a 2-0 advantage, including a misplayed ball in the Ireton end that resulted in an “own goal” situation for the visiting cardinal and gold.   They would rally in the second half with Joey Faddoul converting a picture perfect pass into Ireton’s lone goal to draw within 2-1.  They could not find the equalizer, however, and fell to 1-1 in WCAC play.

Ireton soccer lads returned to their home pitch at Fannon Field to take on Diocesan rivals John Paul the Great .  The past few matches between the school’s have seen competitive bouts and tight scorelines.  Friday seemed to be another one of these games as John Paul got on the scoreboard first, converting a penalty kick due to a handball inside the Ireton box.  John Paul would take the 1 nil lead into the half.

Coach Norem’s side came out strong and Henson Weber made an excellent stop near midfield, played the ball into Faddoul and continued his run into the box to be on the receiving end of a one time finish past the Wolves keeper to tie the match at 1-1.  From this point on the passing and possession kicked in for Ireton and the scoring opportunities opened.  Joey Faddoul would add two more tallies and Nick Ducceschi would be on the receiving end of some nice combination play and supplied a deft touch for his first goal of the season for the Redbirds.

Going into halftime down one goal to scoring four unanswered, it was a good cap to the week and another good test before WCAC picks up regular league play beginning with Ryken at Witter Fields on Tuesday September 30 for a 4:15 tilt.  Thursday will see a rare match date and a game against the “boys in purple” from I Street.  The game against Gonzaga will take place at Trinity University

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Junior Aaron Speight rushes against St Stephens in Cardinals 41-17 win

For the second consecutive week the Cardinal football team made a short and enjoyable trip to play a talented Alexandria rival, claiming a 41 – 17 victory over St. Stephen & St. Agnes on Saturday, September 27, 2014.

Bishop Ireton students and fans claimed a large part of the stands, getting behind the visiting team from the opening kickoff until they joined the team on the field.  It was a great win for a tenacious squad that picked up its fourth victory of the season and third in a row.

Drew Smith got the Cardinals on the scoreboard first, hauling in a Joe Dickinson spiral with a sensational one-handed catch on his left hip.  Junior kicker David Cooper made the lead 7 – 0, but the hosts stormed back in the second quarter to claim a 10 – 7 lead after a Matthew Fischer field goal and a 38 yard dash from running back Isaiah Davis, a University of Maryland commit.

Senior offensive linemen Andre Robinson and Michael Commeree answered the challenge, leading the Cardinals on a three-minute drive that senior Andrew Latrash capped off with a one yard QB sneak.

Dan Cheek and Nick Barth led a swarming kickoff team down the field and the hosts set up shop on their 20 yard line with less than a minute before their Homecoming halftime.  Faced with a third and 10 play the Saints fumbled a snap and Latrash burst through to “scoop and score”, giving the redbirds a 21 – 10 lead.

Ireton opened the half with one of its best drives of the year, using a mix of its power running game and quick passes to “matriculate the ball down the field.”  Sophomore Perris Jones blasted in from the one yard line to give the visitors a 28 – 10 lead.

The “bend, don’t break” Ireton defense made the Saints work for every yard; forcing a red zone fumble and a key fourth down sensational stop by junior linebacker Bernie Hayes as the third quarter wore on.  St. Stephens opened the fourth quarter with an impressive drive that ended with another Davis touchdown to cut the lead to 28 – 17.

From there a deep Ireton squad took control on both sides of the ball; Perris Jones made his way back into the end zone before junior cornerback Corey Johnson ended any Saints hope of a comeback with an impressive interception that led to Aaron Speight putting an exclamation point on the afternoon with a four yard rushing touchdown.

The victory helped Bishop Ireton move into second place in the Virginia Independent School Athletic Association playoff race at the halfway point of the 2014 season.  The Cardinals return to Fannon Field on Friday, October 3 to host the tenacious Flint Hill Huskies.  Kickoff is set for 3:30 to cap off homecoming festivities for the student body as the School heads to celebrate its 50th anniversary Homecoming week, one culminating in a Gala for faculty, friends and alumni Saturday, October 11th!

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Shaefer Cabaniss (23) shadows Bridgette Andrzejewski (10) in action Friday at Witter Drive Field #2.

McDonogh School of Owings Mills, Maryland, came into Friday night’s game with Bishop Ireton undefeated and nationally ranked in the top ten of high school girls soccer.  They played up to their billing with a 7-1 win under the lights at Witter Drive Field in Alexandria.

Coach Gino Leon, credited the visitors’ performance, and his team’s, after the game. “They were so big, strong, fast, and athletic.  We played well, we had some chances and stood in there with them.  But (Bridgette) Andrzejewski was just on another level.”

The game, played before a big crowd on a picture perfect evening in Alexandria, started fast and furious.   McDonogh’s Kia Rankin scored the game’s first goal in only the third minute of play to take a 1-0 lead.  Ireton, however, counterattacked immediately and swiftly.  Junior Lilly Weber made a picture perfect crossing pass in the box from far on the left directly to the foot of Rebecca Mueller and the speedy junior buried her first shot of the game in the back of the net 23 seconds after the opening goal to tie the game at 1-1.

From there, however, it began to look like the Bridgette Andrzejewski show.  The UNC-bound junior member of the US U-19 national squad showed why she earned the berth, scoring the game’s next two goals. “We defended her perfectly and she still managed to score.” marvelled the Ireton head coach.

Junior midfielder Danni Steigerwald would make it 4-1 off a corner kick in the game’s 32nd minute of play and Rankin earned her second goal of the contest with 6:27 remaining to push the margin to 5-1 at intermission.

There was no quit in the Cardinals in the physical second half and the home team created chances but McDonogh junior keeper, Lindsey Clark, kept Bishop Ireton off the scoreboard in the game’s final half. Likewise, McDonogh kept the pressure on throughout the contest but Ireton’s Amy Krotine turned away shot after shot.

Andrzejewski added her third tally of the game in the 52nd minute of play  and sophomore Jenna Soriano ended the scoring with 6:32 left in the contest.

“We played well against clearly the best team we will see all season.  We will be alright, we didn’t back down, we didn’t drop our heads, we will learn from this and get better.” commented Leon. “It was a great night, great atmosphere and crowd.”

The Cardinals (3-3, 0-0) open conference play on Tuesday when the Roadrunners of Elizabeth Seton visit Witter Drive Fields at 4pm.

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Junior Stephanie Lin at #2 singles has had a fast start to the 2014 campaign. She picked up a pair of singles wins and teamed with senior Kirsten Parker to sweep their doubles play over Seton and McNamara.

Bishop Ireton’s girls’ tennis got themselves into the win column and promptly turned it into a two-game streak with a 9-0 win over Elizabeth Seton and a 6-3 upending of Bishop McNamara to improve to 2-1 in WCAC play in the past week.

Coach Katie Sloper-Johnson’s squad had a dominating day against the visiting Roadrunners. Number 1 singles player, Kirsten Parker, snared an 8-1 win while number 2, junior Stephanie Lin continued her strong start to the year with an 8-0 victory.  Number 3, senior Haley Mckeen outlasted her opponent 8-6, while Molly Jeffers secured an 8-2 win at number 4 singles. Casey Jackson whitewashed her Roadrunner opposite, 8-0, while Laney Delaney was an 8-2 victor.

Parker and Lin swept the number 1 doubles by an 8-0 count, Jeffers and Mckeen dispatched their opponents, 8-1, as did the number 3 doubles team of Emily Owen and Delaney by an 8-1 margin.

The Mustangs of Bishop McNamara called on the redbirds and found only a little more luck than the Bladensburg girls did earlier.  Kirsten Parker was an 8-6 winner, Stephanie Lin triumphed by a count of 8-1.  With Jeffers out of the lineup, Haley Mckeen cruised to an  8-0 win at number 3, while Casey Jackson suffered an  8-4 setback at number 4 singles.  Emily Owen was an 8-0 winner, but Laney Delaney was edged 9-7 at number 6.

Kirsten Parker/Stephanie Lin teamed for an 8-1 win at one doubles, Kiersten Laclede/Margaret Hughes were stopped 8-0 at number 2, but Laney Delaney/Emily Owen bounced back for Ireton to grab an  8-1 victory.

Next up for Bishop Ireton is rival Bishop O’Connell, the third visitor to Wakefield during the Cardinals 4-match stretch of home events.  Start time is 4pm.

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Preston Haugh has done it all for the Cardinals early in the campaign, a key part of a 6-2 start for the squad.

Bishop Ireton opened up play on Tuesday September 16th  at Witter Field, beginning their conference slate against Archbishop Carroll.   A tight first half saw the score at 2-0 with goals from Patrick Reilly assisted by Joey Faddoul then Joey Faddoul scoring with the assist coming from Reilly.

The second half would find the Cardinals getting the run of play and finding the back of the net.  Patrick Reilly completed his hat trick with the next two goals, both assisted again from Faddoul to make it 4-0.  Faddoul would find the back of the net again with George Mereu registering an assist on the goal.

Kyle Delaney joined the scoring with another Faddoul assist, Faddoul ended the match with 8 assists in all.  Mereu registered a talley for Ireton with the assist being credited to Preston Haugh.  Alan Sempertegui, Matt Pham, Matthew Breiner, and Jake Miklovic rounded out the scoring for an emphatic Ireton WCAC conference win. Matt Poling and Dylan Westphal each split time between the sticks in keeping the clean sheet for BI.

The next day, Bishop Ireton traveled up Seminary Road to take on the defending VISAA Div. 1 State Champions in St. Stephen’s St. Agnes.  A scrappy game against the city rivals saw Ireton get on the scoreboard first.  With less than five minutes remaining before halftime, frosh George Mereu took a free kick quickly, finding Preston Haugh in the Saints corner of the pitch.  Haugh looked up and found Faddoul inside the box and Faddoul cooly netted what would end up being the game winner in a tightly contested 1-0 win for Ireton.  Matt Polling went the full 80 minutes for his second “full clean sheet” of the season.

Friday would see the end of a busy week in boy’s soccer, with the highly motivated Heights School coming to Fannon Field.  The third and final match of the week for the Cardinals was the most competitive and complete game of the week.

Patrick Reilly neatly finished a rebound to put Ireton up 1-0 early.  The Heights would respond before halftime scoring on a long ball played into the Ireton defensive third.  Matt Poling came out to punch the ball just on the edge of his 18 yard box, but the ball would ricochet off a home team and Heights player and go directly into the net.  Poling took the brunt of the play, seeing his keeper shirt torn at the end of the furious action in the box.

The second half really brought about Ireton’s ability to compete, putting together several passing sequences and dangerous play in The Heights defensive third.  However another long ball counter attack would see The Heights go up 2-1.

Ireton remained on the attack, however the goal would not come, and a competitive match would see the Redbirds finishing off their busy week of soccer losing 2-1.

Coach Jon Norem’s squad will take the strong week of soccer into another conference game this Tuesday against DeMatha at 3:30 on Heurich Field, before returning home to Fannon Field to take on VISAA and diocesan rival, Saint John Paul the Great.

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RB Perris Jones' 30 yd TD sprint provided the critical margin in the Cardinals' 26-24 thrilling win at EHS.

The Bishop Ireton football team (3-1) made the short trip to Episcopal High School (1-1) on Saturday, September 20 with a firm belief that they could compete with their much ballyhooed hosts.

The 2014 Cardinals played hard in each of their first three games and knew it would take a total team effort to derail a Maroon squad that won their first game of the season 44 – 6 the previous week.  Like a heavyweight prize fight, the teams went toe to toe before the Cardinals took a final knee to preserve a 26 – 24 victory.

The teams traded big plays in the first half, but both defenses stiffened in the red zone, forcing the offenses to settle for field goals.  Ireton led 6 – 5 thanks to David Cooper’s 32 and 21 yard field goals.  Coach Verducci spoke to the team about fighting until the final bell at half time, explaining that the team’s mental strength and conditioning would provide the Cardinals with an edge.  Joe Dickinson’s first pass of the second half wound up in the hands of a Maroon defender for a quick touchdown, but Charlie Ladd and Corey Johnson broke up a two-point conversion attempt, so the Cardinals faced a deficit of five points.

Dickinson came right back, finding sophomore Sam Smith on a 39-yard pass and the Cardinals drove deep into Episcopal territory before senior Andrew Latrash followed his offensive line into the end zone to reclaim the lead at 12 – 11.  Dickinson spread the ball around on the next Cardinal possession, finding Ryan Scott, Brenden Peifer and Harrison Mertins to give the team a first down on the EHS 27 yard line.

From there, sophomore RB Perris Jones followed blocks from Ryan Verducci and Michael Commeree to give his team a 19 – 11 lead after Cooper’s extra point.  The Cardinals were on the move early in the fourth quarter when Dickinson threw a perfect spiral “over the top” for a touchdown to the 6’4” Peifer.  The 26 – 11 lead did not last for long as the home team “got up off the mat” with a big 70 yard pass and catch.  The Cardinal defense stuffed the two point attempt, holding a 26 – 17 advantage.

The Episcopal defense stiffened and the offense gave the crowd a full dose of drama with a 20-yard touchdown with five minutes left on the clock.  The Cardinal defense, led by senior linebacker Josh Ammon and junior defensive tackle Trey Lovisone, dug in to protect the lead.  Junior safety Alex Duke made a “Top 10” interception on the Cardinal sideline and sophomore safety Chandler Wilder ended the final Episcopal possession with an interception near midfield.  From there Dickinson, Duke and Latrash took turns running the ball for a final first down and the Cardinal’s third victory of the season.

Ireton is the homecoming guest for St. Stephen & St. Agnes on Saturday, September 27.  The 2:00 PM start with be the fourth road game in five contests for a tough Cardinal squad.

Box Score:                  1        2       3        4        Total

Bishop Ireton            0        6     13        7           26

Episcopal                    3       2        6      13          24

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Junior Anna Fracasso, 2d team all WCAC last season, has opened the 2014 campaign with 3 consecutive shutouts.

A beautiful fall day yielded another Cardinal shutout in Bishop Ireton’s 2-0 win at Elizabeth Seton Monday in Bladensburg.

Senior Christine Macey and sophomore Callan McCormick scored for the visiting Ireton, Macey in the first half, McCormick late in the second half, while junior goalkeeper Anna Fracasso recorded her third shutout in as many games.

Once again senior Hayley Snell drew praise from the Cardinals’ coaching staff. “She had a strong game in the midfield, pushing the ball into the offensive zone.” commented assistant coach Jessica Beaton.  “Paige Russell and Mackenzie Wallace both played remarkably well. They were everywhere in the midfield, transitioning the ball to our offense and recovering back to help on defense” continued Beaton.  “When you play like that, with the quality play from Angela Click and Rose Meyers on the defensive end of the field, we really make a great goalkeeper like Anna Fracasso look even better.  The girls don’t let the opponent get many quality shots, and even when they do, Anna has stopped every one.”

The Cardinals also won the nightcap as the JV downed the Roadrunners, 5-0.

The Cardinals (3-0, 2-0) head to Leonardtown, Maryland, on Monday, September 22d for another WCAC bout with the Knights, the first of two meetings this season. A later meeting in Alexandria will not count in the conference standings, Monday however, will be the WCAC assigned match.

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Catie Hoffman is one of only four seniors on the Cardinalvolleyball team, off to a fast start in2014.

Bishop Ireton’s volleyball team raced past a taller St John’s in three straight, 25-9, 25-8, 25-20.

For the Cardinals, it was a case of the team playing their style of play and making the opponent play that game as well.

“We played a balanced attacking style of game,” commented the Cardinals’ head coach, Kathy Gutmann. “Frankie Littleton stepped in at libero and played very well, as did Olivia Georgi in the middle.”

The Ireton defense stymied the Cadets attack, but the visiting Washington DC school suffered a number of unforced errors.  “We took them out of their game, the girls did a good job in that regard. But we have to go back up their place and they will no doubt remember this match.” suggested the Ireton coach.

The Cardinals hit the road for a JV, varsity doubleheader at Bishop McNamara, gametime 4pm for the junior varsity tilt, the varsity matchup is tentatively set for 5:30.

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No room to run, Cardinal defense shuts out Bulldogs, St Albans using an interception to grab an early lead.

It was a day for re-dedicating Fannon Field as the new artificial turf was blessed by Father Bresnahan and a day to debut the Cardinals sharp anthracite gray alternate third jersey.  Despite everyone’s best efforts to make it a picture perfect day, Mother Nature wasn’t cooperating.   Bishop Ireton shook it off nonetheless  and took care of business in dedicating the turf in a steady downpour and the Cardinals in rolling up 38 unanswered points in a lopsided win in their home opener, 38-6 over the Bulldogs of St Albans.

The Bulldogs scored first in a rainy first period when quarterback Joe Dickinson’s toss to the flat floated over the intended receiver and directly to junior Zachary Bagliore.  The fleet footed visitor snared the errant aerial and rumbled 32 yards to give St Albans a 6-0 lead with 7:47 remaining in the opening quarter of play. The PAT was blocked, a sign of things to come for the visiting Bulldogs.

After a slow start, the weather began to improve and so did the Cardinals’ offense. Following a blocked punt, the first of a number of St Albans turnovers, Perris Jones weaved his way through the middle of the St Albans’ defense for a 15 yard touchdown and the Cooper PAT gave Ireton a 7-6 advantage.

The Cardinals next possession stalled after a successful onside kick down to the 28, giving David Cooper a daunting 43-yard field goal attempt in a light rain.  The strong-legged junior banged it home from the left hash mark with room to spare at 3:43 and the lead was 10-6.

The Washington all-boys school rode the running of senior Chris Howe in their opening day win over Anacostia, but the running back had little room all day against the Cardinal defense that just won’t yield a yard without a struggle. Time and again, the defense put the offense in good field position with minimal down time on the sidelines for the home team’s offensive unit.

When the offense didn’t have great field position, they simply used it to spread the field.  Senior Drew Smith hauled in a Joe Dickinson pass from the Ireton 1o-yard line and the fleet footed Smith outran the defenders 90 yards for the Cardinals second touchdown at 6:51 in the second period.

It took only three plays for Dickinson to find Smith in the end zone again, this time Dickinson’s favorite receiver outjumped the defender to haul in the touchdown with only 64 seconds remaining in the half, Ireton enjoying a 24-6 advantage.

Following a 12-yard punt early in the third quarter, Ireton again had great field position and ran off 8 plays, all but one on ground before Alex Duke appeared to bulldoz up the middle for an 8 yard score.  Ruled down at the one, Andrew Latrash made it 31-6 in the next play from one yard away.   Just over 7 minutes remained in the third.

The defense continued to refuse to bend and the offense pounded the ball on the ground, wearing down the white jerseyed boys from Mount Alban. Finally, the Bulldog defense  broke in the game’s final minute and the dangerous Aaron Speight rushed around the Cardinals’ left end, and untouched turned down field  45 yards for the game’s final points, with only 22 seconds remaining.

For the Cardinals (2-1) cross town rivals, Episcopal (1-0) awaits.  The Maroon topped Ireton last year and opened with a lopsided win over Flint Hill on Saturday.  Gametime at Episcopal’s Hummel Bowl is set for 2pm.

News and Notes:

– Senior Drew Smith’s two touchdowns give him 8 on the year after 3 games, including a kickoff return

–  Ireton’s championship girls lacrosse team was presented championship rings at the halftime of the School’s football home opener.

– Cardinals snapped a losing streak to St Albans that goes back more than 10 years with the win on Saturday.

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Maggie Lohrer looks to lead the Cardinals in the 2014 cross country season.

Rolling hills and cool, overcast weather greeted the Bishop Ireton cross country team as they participated in the 40^th Annual Judges Classic in Winchester, Virginia this past weekend.  As one of the meet’s two private schools, the Ireton harriers knew that there would be tough competition to go along with a course that featured multiple lengthy climbs and descents. Recently elected by their teammates this week, team captains John Holbrook, Thomas Ward, Natalie Irwin, and Kaitlin Luzik took on the job of motivating their fellow Cardinals to take on the challenge.

In the girls varsity race, juniors Maggie Lohrer and Isabelle Wilcox hung together for 23^rd and 24^th place finishes overall. They were followed by freshman newcomer Lizzie Lohrer, Megan Cunningham, Brittany Dolan, Molly Nealon, and Kaitlin Luzik. The top Ireton finisher from the girls JV race was junior newcomer Maggie Mildrew. Quite a few freshmen girls competed in their first official cross country meet as they bested their times from the Landon scrimmage only a few weeks ago. Freshmen Vivian Barker, Rose Hersey, Isabella Diaz, Abigail Grillo, Caitlin McGuckin, and Hayden Britt all had outstanding races on Saturday.

The boys varsity race featured junior captain Thomas Ward finishing 93^rd overall with a new personal best time of 18:38. Following close behind was newcomer Aaron Ault in 19:33. Closing out the top seven for Ireton were Steve Sisel, Chris App, John Holbrook, Chris Gaietto, and Jake Ferrara. In the boys JV race, Jimmy Grant led the Cardinals and was followed by David Fernandez, Patrick Higgins, Matthew Gottlieb, Will Olson, John Ferguson, Pablo Douros, and Michael Manero.

The Cardinals will race with over 60 schools at the Oatlands Invitational in Leesburg, VA this upcoming weekend.

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