Bishop Ireton (2-3, 1-1)got on the winning track with a Friday/Saturday pair of wins against more strong competition. Holy Cross (2-3, 0-1)hosted the Ireton squad on a muddy, natural grass field Friday in the first road contest in the WCAC for the Cardinals. Ireton jumped out to to lead it would not relinquish lead with sophomore Aubrey Gartlan’s 3 goals and 13 saves by junior goalkeeper Maggie Covert enroute to a 13-9 win. The win extended Ireton’s string of hard fought victories over the Tartans to 5, one of the few schools with whom the Cardinals have a losing record overall.
Up 6-3 at the half, the Tartans Slater took the team on her back and willed the purple-clan hosts back into the contest. But Covert, playing only her fourth game as a keeper, responded with key saves in the second half to preserve the win.
Saturday saw the Highland Hawks visit Ireton on a blustery spring day. Samantha Crew tallied 3 times to lead the visitors but the Cardinals got balanced scoring from its “Maddy” attackers, senior Maddy Connor, Maddy Irvin, Maddy Ziegler, Gartlan, and 5 goals from UConn-bound Janet Tela to pull away for a 16-4 win over last year’s Division II state semi finalists. Covert contributed 8 saves in the Saturday affair, looking more confident and sharp in the crease with each game. Up 7-3 at halftime, Ireton turned up the defensive pressure in the second half and, with Covert playing exceptionally in the net, the Cardinals dominated the Hawks 9-1 in the final frame.
“Maggie is really playing as well as anyone could hope.” said Steve Tela of his rookie keeper. “When you look at the other things, like draw control, ground balls, and reducing our turnovers from 38 in the Good Counsel game to 13 today, the team is really playing better every time out.”
Ireton hosts Loudoun Valley on Monday in a varsity/JV doubleheader on Fannon Field, varsity start time is 4:15.
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