Youngsters lead Cardinals to Semifinals, 2-1

Junior Katrina Guillou led Cardinals in comeback 2-1 win at Holy Cross

Few Ireton fans looked forward to their second trip to Kensington in five days following a grueling 2-1 loss to end the regular season. The setback dropped the Cardinals from a third seed, and a home playoff game, to a tie for the 5th seed, with a trip back to 4th seeded Holy Cross.

An early Freeman goal gave the Tartans a lead and in a tightly marked game the Cardinals went to half time with few good scoring chances despite playing a relatively good period of soccer.

Freshman Natalia Barrow broke the ice for the Cardinals who played with a “not-to-be-denied” sense of determination in the second half. Slowly the field seemed to tilt downhill for Ireton as they won the loose balls, juniors Hannah Thomas and Nicole Bond turning back the Holy Cross attacks. Jess Bobick played a strong game in net, including making a pair of incredible saves after going down and stopping shots from point blank range.

But it was a direct kick by Adrienne Maday from 25 yards away that gave the Cardinals their best opportunity to take the lead. The freshman hit a cannon of a shot right on goal that overwhelmed the keeper who gamely saved the ball, but yielded a juicy rebound that Karina Azar slammed into the back of the net with just under 12 minutes remaining.

Coach Marianna Sullivan’s charges continued to press the attack, eating valuable time and driving the Tartans back deep in their own end to constitute their attack. When they managed to get a shot on goal in the games late moments, the midfielders and defense kept the shots routine for the senior goalkeeper.

The 2-1 win propels Ireton to a third match this season with rival Bishop O’Connell Thursday in Arlington. The Knights have topped Ireton in their first two meetings of the season, but the winner of this encounter earns a trip to Germantown and the WCAC finals on Saturday night at the Maryland SoccerPlex. Gametime Thursday is expected to be 3pm, championship Saturday is a 6pm kickoff.