Ireton's Olivia Cole had 11 saves, including a shutout second half, in unseating the defending WCAC champion Holy Cross Tartans Thursday.
The Bishop Ireton girls’ lacrosse team defeated the defending conference champion Holy Cross Tartans 13-5 at Fannon Field yesterday to advance to their first WCAC finals appearance since 2009. The Cardinals will face Good Counsel in the championship game Monday, May 13, 5:00 p.m., at the University of Maryland’s Ludwig Field.
Bishop Ireton came out fast and went up 6-1 early in the first half. The Lady Tartans went on a 4-1 run the rest of the first half which ended with Bishop Ireton leading 7-5.
Then the Cardinals’ defense slammed the door shut on Holy Cross in the second half. The defending champions never scored again even with a 30-minute lightning delay in the middle of the last act.
Junior goalkeeper Olivia Cole made six of her 11 saves in the second half with four of those stops coming off free position chances. Holy Cross simply could not find a way to crack open the steel curtain.
“We design our defense around having a good goalie,” Bishop Ireton Coach Rick Sofield said. “We’ll give up shots as long as they’re tough shots that we know Olivia can save.”
Bishop Ireton’s offense reeled off the last six goals of the game in the second half. In the end, sophomore Kelly Matthews had 4 goals and one assist; junior Kendall Cunningham got 3 goals and one assist; freshman Kelly Larkin had 2 goals; and sophomores Natalie Irwin, Christine Macey, Isabel Obregon and Charlotte Sofield got one goal each. Obregon and Sofield also had 3 assists each and sophomore Kaitlin Luzik had 2 assists.
Tickets to the championship game are $10 each with advance sales available from the Bishop Ireton athletic department office. Ticket office at Ludwig Field opens at 4pm on Monday. The Cardinals will have a round trip coach bus departing Bishop Ireton at 3:30pm for the game. The cost of the bus is free.
Processing your request, Please wait....
