Bishop Ireton High School | Archive | November, 2011

Junior Brandon Price-Williams rushed for 172 yards in Cardinals' win at St Mary's Ryken Friday.

Bishop Ireton secured its number 2 seed in the VISAA’s Division I football playoffs with a dominating 48-0 win on the road in the regular season finale for the Cardinals.

It was a cold, windy night for the Knights’ senior game, but the visitors were hot the entire first half, scoring almost at will.  After holding Ryken on their first drive of the game, junior running back, Brandon Price-Williams bolted up the middle, racing 60 yards for the Cardinals first of 7 touchdowns on the evening. Senior Nick Galdos added the extra point and Ireton had a 7-0 lead early in the quarter.

The home team fumbled the pigskin away on their next possession, Price-Williams again galloped for 25 yards to put Ireton in the “red zone” and junior PJ Zingler hit Malcolm Westbrook for a 6 yard touchdown pass with 7:24 remaining in the opening quarter.

The second quarter opened with Ireton again knocking on the door and Price-Williams scored his second of three touchdowns on a 7-yard run to give the Cardinals a 21-0 lead with 11:21 still on the clock.  Ryken would again lose the football and Price-Williams shredded the Knight defense for a 55-yard sprint to the end zone. The PAT was blocked, but it was 27-0 with time left in the second quarter.

SMR began to move the ball more effectively and the defense began to have some success slowing the Cardinals, but when Ryken was forced to punt with little more than 30 seconds remaining, head coach Tony Verducci sent the punt block order to the defenders. With a successful block, Ireton was in business again at the Ryken 27 yard line. On the second play of the drive, Zingler connected with Westbrook on a perfectly executed screen pass and the Alexandrians ballooned the lead to 34-0 at intermission.

With the Cardinals playing reserves in the second half, they finished a long drive with sophomore Hudson Sullivan making a one-yard dive to bump the lead to 41-0 and the running clock went into effect.  Justin Paige closed the scoring for night when he returned an interception 22 yards to “the house” and a 48-0 final was in the books.

The Cardinals had a good night offensively, Brandon Price-Williams rushing 15 times for 172 yards (11.4 yards/carry) while PJ Zingler gained 35 yards in 3 carries. Darnell Duckett rushed for 18 in three carries, and Hudson Sullivan gained a yard in one carry but it did result in a touchdown.  Zingler was 13 for 18 and 124 yards passing, Westbrook hauled in three aerials for 49, Merid Merid had a pair for 41 yards.

For the Cardinals, the campaign closed at 8-2, a number 2 seed in the VISAA playoffs, and the opportunity to host the first round game. St Christopher’s of Richmond moved into the three seed after Potomac School surprised Flint Hill 19-14 to win the MAC championship.  The Huskies held on to the 4th seed and will travel to top ranked Liberty Christian Academy Friday night in their first round action.

The playoff game will kickoff at 1pm on Fannon Field. As a state playoff game, no passes or complimentary tickets, including our athletic booster passes, are honored except as issued by the VISAA. Winners from this coming weekend will meet at the higher seeded school the following weekend to play for the state championship.

Scoring Summary:    1          2          3          4          Final

Bishop Ireton           14       20          7          7           48

St Mary’s Ryken        0         0         0           0            0

BI – Price-Williams 60 yard run (Galdos kick)

BI – Westbrook 7 yard pass from Zingler (Galdos kick)

BI – Price-Williams 7 yard run (Kick failed)

BI – Price-Williams 55 yard run (Guillaud kick)

BI – Westbrook 27 yard pass from Zingler (Guillaud kick)

BI – Paige 22 yard pass interception return (Gullaud kick)

News and Notes:

– Cardinals and Saints ruined each other’s homecomings in 2008 at Ireton and at St Christophers in 2009. They have not met since.

– 8-2 regular season record ties previous best by an Ireton team.

– This is the third playoff in the 2000’s. Cardinals lost 2004 semifinal to Collegiate School, 17-14 in OT, defeated Flint Hill 12-7 in 2007 before losing 35-14 at Liberty Christian in the title game.

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3-time all conference player Katrina Guillou scored twice to lead the Cardinals past Good Counsel in semifinal play in Olney Maryland Thursday night.

Bishop Ireton stood toe-to-toe with ESPN Rise’s #1 ranked girls high school soccer team in America Thursday night and delivered a stunning 2-0 win, playing a nearly flawless game to advance to the WCAC championship Sunday night against second-seeded St Johns College High School.

With player of the year, Midge Purce, sidelined for the Falcons, Imani Dorsey and teammates battled the Cardinals in a well played, aggressive contest that was in doubt right to the end of the match.

Coaches agree that great players make great plays in big games.  Bishop Ireton’s senior Katrina Guillou, a three-time first-team all conference player, was the definition of a great player for the Cardinals on Thursday night.

After the Falcons controlled the play in the opening minutes, Ireton settled into a possession style of moving the ball and began to attack. With 12:44 remaining in the opening half, Guillou took  great pass from Emily Gupton and drilled a line drive that rocketed in the net and bounced out so quickly there was a momentary hesitation by players and fans perhaps wondering if the ball went in the net.

When she took another perfect pass from Gupton and sent a looping shot from the right of the goal over the outstretched hands of the Falcon keeper and into the far corner less than 3 minutes later, a stunned silence fell over Dancil Field, except for the Cardinal faithful.

Coach Gino Leon at that point pulled a forward for an additional midfielder to slow the Falcons transitioning to the attack. Ciana Puglise, Anna Wissler, Meaghan Reilly, and Adrienne Maday clogged the midfield and, with defenders Hannah Thomas and Helena Barber, they ensured Cardinal goalkeeper Brenna Heaney had manageble saves and good looks at Good Counsel shots.  At a critical point in the middle of the second half, they expertly steered three straight corner kicks away from the goal to preserve the 2-goal advantage as the home team pressured the fourth-seeded Cardinals.

Again, in the later stages of the final half, Leon again went to his additional midfielder to blunt the Falcon pressure and control the ball. Thomas sent a number of long drives deep into the Good Counsel end of the field, wearing down the defending champions and eating precious time off the clock.  The Cardinals controlled the ball and forced the Falcons to chase the ball and move constantly, taking its toll on the the host club.

“Imani Dorsey, even slowed by injury, played a tremendous game for Good Counsel.” said the victorious Leon following the game. “We played a great team, I am not sure it has really sunk in with the girls that we beat the top seed, defending champions, number 1 team in the ESPN rankings on their home field with a trip to the finals on the line.”

And so it was, the Cardinals pulled off the improbable upset.  Cinderella, the 4th seed in an evenly balanced conference of strong teams, heads to “the ball” on Sunday night. The question then, “will the glass slipper fit?”

The Washington Catholic Athletic Conference’s championship doubleheader features Bishop Ireton and St Johns at 6pm in the main stadium at the Maryland SoccerPlex in Boyds, Maryland, 18031 Central Park Circle, Boyds, MD 20841.  Gonzaga will test unbeaten DeMatha in the nightcap.  Admission for the championships is $10/person, good for both contests.

The athletic department will host a tailgate party in the stadium parking lot beginning at 4pm. Gates open at 5pm.  A bus will depart Bishop Ireton at 4pm for the championship game and will return following the contest. There is no charge for the bus, but athletic department officials request a reservation be made by email AD Bill Simmons at simmons@bishopireton.org.

News & Notes

– Cardinals last played for the WCAC girls soccer championship in 2005, losing 4-1 to St Johns.  They have never won a WCAC soccer title.

– Bishop Ireton ended top-ranked Good Counsel’s unbeaten streak last year with a 3-0 win at Fannon Field on Oct 1, 2010.

– Only 3 teams scored two goals on Good Counsel in 20 games this season, Ireton did it twice. No one scored more than two.

– Ireton scored in the second half to tie St John’s 1-1 on Oct 18th on Senior Day at Fannon Field.

– Bishop Ireton improved to 12-2-1 on the season while Good Counsel ended their campaign 19-1 on the year.

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The Cardinals' Emileigh Rettig, above, was one of the team's keys to success in Bladensburg Tuesday

There was a quiet determination in the Cardinal huddle after 4th seeded Elizabeth Seton scored a comfortable 25-13 win in game one of their quarterfinal match with Bishop Ireton.  “We played well in the first game, we just opened with some nervousness, then couldn’t catch up.  We played the same way once we got in sync in winning the next two games.” commented head coach, Kathy Gutmann as she looked forward to her first trip to Trinity Washington University as a WCAC semifinalist.

After game one, the Cardinals got strong play from all their players, their team personality is such that no one player carries them so much as they all play best when they are playing together.  Ireton got strong serves, played good defense and, according to Gutmann, hit the ball where they weren’t. “Emileigh Rettig was attacking very well. She had a great attitude tonight, if the last shot didn’t get in, she went right back after the next one and scored.” praised Gutmann.

The coach felt the club struggled briefly as they ended game 3, a 25-20 Ireton win, and the Roadrunners bounced back to capture game 4 25-19.  “Our rally cry, so to speak, ‘make something happen’ was the theme as we got ready for the final game.” said Gutmann. “I could feel them pressing the attack and their confidence as we pulled ahead. I was excited inside about heading to Trinity, but didn’t want to show it, less it become a distraction.” she recalled as the Cardinals piled up an 11-5 lead enroute to the 15-7 finisher.

The Cardinals 17-12 on the season head to Trinity Washington University on Thursday at 5pm to challenge top-ranked and defending WCAC champions, Good Counsel. The Falcons won the regular season match up at the Cardinals senior night last week, 3-0.  Admission to the semifinals and finals of the tournament is $5.00. No school booster or other passes are honored for these WCAC championship events.

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Gabby Goddette tallied twice to the lead the Cardinals into the semifinals of the WCAC soccer championships Thurday.

On a picture perfect fall afternoon, Bishop Ireton played a picture perfect game to overwhelm 5th seeded St Mary’s Ryken, 4-0,  in the quarterfinals of the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference’s championship girls soccer in Alexandria.

Coach Gino Leon’s squad dominated the game, with nearly 20 shots on net in the contest and held an 8-1 advantage on corner kicks.  The Knights did not record a shot on goal until the second minute of the second half of play.  Despite the advantage, Ryken hung tough.  The Cardinals Gabby Goddette scored the first of 2 goals she would get in the contest with 34:21 remaining.  St Mary’s Ryken would hold the host team off the board for the remainder of the half until a near perfect corner kick found Natalia Barrow in the box where she sent a rocket into the corner with :10 remaining for a 2-0 lead.

Karina Azar pushed the lead to 3-0 with 35:42 remaining in the game and Goddette added her second marker of the day in the 11th minute of play in the final half to set Ireton up at 4-0.

Leon liberally substituted at that point and the Cardinals played out the contest to advance to the semifinals on Thursday in Olney, Maryland, where the top-seeded Good Counsel awaits.  The Falcons overcame Paul VI Tuesday night 2-0 to advance.  The winner of Thursday’s game will advance to the championship on Sunday at the Maryland SoccerPlex in Germantown/Boyds, Maryland for a 6pm start.

The Good Counsel/Bishop Ireton winner will face the winner of the Holy Cross/St Johns game also set on Thursday at St Johns. Holy Cross upset the third seeded Bishop O’Connell while the Cadets dumped Elizabeth Seton.  Admission for the championship is $10, but is good for the 6pm girls game and the 8pm boys game.

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