Holy Cross senior Kelsey Reilly banged in a rebound inside the box with under 5 minutes left to let the Tartans escape with a 1-1 draw in Alexandria Tuesday. The game, hastily moved to Fannon Field’s AstroPlay 2000 after rains left soggy Kensington fields unplayable, generally was dominated by the Cardinals, particularly in the first half.
Ireton’s Katrina Guillou made a spectacular move in the offensive zone, receiving and instantly popping a pass over the defender’s head while deftly stepping around her and drilling a shot to the upper left hand corner of the goal to put Ireton up 1-0. The lead held up as the Cardinals pressed the attack rolling up a 10-3 shots on goal three quarters of the way through the contest.
It was a foul in the Ireton defensive end that set up a direct kick, which would lead to the trouble in the box that gave Holy Cross the rare scoring opportunity and the Tartan senior didn’t disappoint the purple clad faithful who journeyed to Virginia for the contest on a blustery fall day.
The young Ireton squad continues to dazzle their coaches and soccer fans alike. They impressed Holy Cross mentor Nelson Abreau. “Marianna has the kids playing a superb, perfect tactical game. The team is impressive, they dominated the first half. We made some changes at halftime, but this is a very good team Coach Sullivan has playing very well.”
Hannah Thomas, Nicole Bond, and Helena Barber anchor the Cardinals defensively in front of a pair of senior goalkeeper Joanna Faletti and Jess Bobeck. It was well into the second half before the Tartans registered a shot on net.
A crew of young players surround Guillou, including newcomer junior Anna Wissler, a North Carolina all state player who transferred from Camp Lejeune High School and underclassmen Adrienne Maday, Gabriella Goddette, Ciana Puglise, among a strong cast of veteran seniors and youngsters in the Ireton program. Wissler drew praise recently from her coach, “Anna has continued to gain confidence and become comfortable with what we want her to do for the team. She is making a great impact on the game and is one reason for the success we are enjoying.”
The Cardinals host the always dangerous St Johns on Friday before heading up Quaker Lane for a midseason non conference tilt with Episcopal on Tuesday while the JV travel to Carroll. Ireton has a three-game winning streak over the 2009 WCAC finalists, but the Cadets are coming back from injuries and always make a late season push as tournament time approaches. Gametime is set for 4pm.
Processing your request, Please wait....
