Sophomore Grace Hamilton's (6) goal in the first half looked like the game winner until the final 8 munutes of the contest gave Good Counsel a come-from-behind win.
As the teams prepared for a key WCAC girls soccer show down, Bishop Ireton Coach Gino Leon was concerned about his team’s focus. Good Counsel was again undefeated in the WCAC regular season, suffering some key injuries, but focused on their first chance to face Bishop Ireton since the stunning 2-0 upset by the Cardinals in last fall’s conference playoffs. The worry about focus proved to be unnecessary in the physical 2-1 come-from-behind win for the Falcons.
Leon’s team came out aggressively and played the visitors from Olney even from the opening kick, in fact, the Cardinals had the best scoring opportunities throughout the opening half. Grace Hamilton gave the hosts a 1-0 lead with 19 minutes left in the opening half with a perfectly placed shot from more than 20 yards away on the left side. The line drive was just above the reach of the Falcon goalkeeper and tucked just under the crossbar. Minutes later Adrienne Maday put another great shot on goal, but a spectacular save kept the Cardinal lead at one.
As the winds swirled and clouds gathered, the rumble of thunder with 15:20 remaining in the second half caused a mandatory 30-minute stoppage in play. The unscheduled break may have been just the breather the Falcons needed, as the Cardinals seemed to be pushing the Olney, Maryland squad on the smaller Ireton field to the verge of fatigue. Just about 35 minutes later, a rejuvenated Good Counsel retook the field and displayed the grit of a potential champion.
The Falcons began to press the attack on the Cardinals and while Ireton countered, the field seemed to begin to tip in the blue and gold clan visitors’ way. On a free kick deep in the Ireton, Cardinal keeper Brenna Heany was screened by the mass of bodies and the Falcons’ Parr slipped a low line drive in the net to tie the score with 7:44 to play.
The tying goal was a shot of adrenaline for the Falcons and, as a steady rain began to fall, so did the pressure from Good Counsel. The Washington Post player-of-the-year in 2011, Midge Purse showed why she is 0ne of the area’s best when she gave the visitors the lead at 4:55 to play with a series of moves and scorching liner into the corner of net to stun the home team who had so expertly negated her play for the first 72 minutes.
The rain increased in the contest’s final minutes and Good Counsel settled into a smothering defense at midfield, clogging the middle, and turning away the Ireton offense as it struggled to gain the offensive zone. The rain continued, the daylight fled, and Ireton’s hopes to tie the contest faded as the clock raced to :00.
Bishop Ireton will play its final home game Tuesday when they host Bishop McNamara on Fannon Field. Senior day activities will precede the 4pm start time and the JV contest will follow. Next week will see the start of the WCAC playoff tournament.
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