Bishop Ireton High School | Archive | September, 2013

Fresh off a 2-0 season start, one that included a 5-game win on the road at Bishop O’Connell, the Cardinals packed their bags for Olney and the always tough Good Counsel Falcons on Friday night.

Good Counsel didn’t disappoint, they are as strong as always according to Coach Kathy Gutmann, and the Falcons swept Ireton in three straight games, 25-15, 25-14, and 25-20.  “They will be a dominant team in the WCAC” commented Gutmann, “it wasn’t that we played poorly, they will be a handful for anyone this year.”

From Olney, the girls headed to Fredericksburg for the Fredericksburg Christian Academy’s Tip Off Tournament on Saturday.   It was a full day of action for the Cardinals as they opened play with a pair of wins over Timothy Christian School and Model School.

The wins advanced Ireton to tangle with  a backyard rival in St Stephens/St Agnes School.  The Cardinals outlasted the Saints in their first meeting of the year and advanced to play Fairfax Home School in the semifinals.   After their 4th win of the day, the northern Virginians advanced to the championship match with host school, FCS.

The final best of three match went to the home team, 2-0, but the Cardinals ended the weekend road weary but sporting a 6-2 mark early in the season.  The long-awaited home opener is set for Tuesday, September 10th in the newly remodeled Father Godley Gymnasium when powerhouse Paul VI visits the Cardinals.  It will be a tripleheader, freshmen kicking off the afternoon at 4pm, JV at 5pm and varsity at 6:30pm.

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Head Coach Gino Leon thinks this year's edition of Girls Soccer could be one if his best.

The much anticipated opening of the 2013 girls soccer season arrived this past weekend as Coach Gino Leon’s charges journeyed to Reisterstown, Maryland, for the Mid Atlantic Invitational girls soccer tournament.

Ireton challenged the Pennington School from New Jersey in the Friday afternoon match at the McDonogh School campus.  The Cardinals dominated the play in the first half, outshooting the Jersey girls 5-2, but headed to intermission locked in a 0-0 game.  “They are a very good team, no doubt about that, but we gave up an **** goal”  lamented Leon after the game.  That **** goal was no doubt a beautiful site on the other side as it because the game winner in a 1-0 final.

Saturday saw a somewhat depleted Ireton squad in a rematch with Bethesda-Chevy Chase in the tourney’s final action for Ireton.  Lillie Weber got Ireton’s first goal of the 2013 season in the first half and, again, the Cardinals played a strong second half, dominating play in the eyes of their coach, before a  momentary lapse gave the Marylanders a tying score.

The Alexandrians were not done, however, and worked themselves one of their best opportunities of the contest in the game’s final minute, but could not convert.  Again, the Cardinals had a quality opponent on the ropes but this time had to be satisfied with a tie.

The Cardinals open their home schedule with a varsity/junior doubleheader at 4pm and 5:30 on Witter Street field when the highly regarded Sidwell Friends girls visit Alexandria.  The boys will host a concurrent doubleheader with The Bullis School as well that afternoon, one sure to be full of exciting action for Ireton soccer enthusiasts.

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Dylan Espinosa picks off a Knight aerial in the first half of action Saturday on Fannon Field.

Bishop Ireton’s Cardinals came out fast and furious Saturday against arguably one of the best O’Connell football team in years.  Early they stopped the Knights on the opening drives of the game  and stunned the visitors with a 60-yard touchdown pass from Andrew Latrash to Josh Ammon.  The lightning strike handed the home team a 6-0 advantage and had many blue and white clad fans concerned about this old rivalry matchup.

Read the whole story here: http://www.northernvasports.com/arlington/o-connell-routs-another-northern-virginia-rival/article_e1754e84-181f-11e3-8d6a-0019bb30f31a.html

See more photos on MaxPreps:  http://www.maxpreps.com/high-schools/bishop-ireton-cardinals-(alexandria,va)/football/home.html

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Cardinals earn the biggest win in program history early in their third season over Thomas Jefferson

Grace Fletcher’s second goal of the game, with 4:57 remaining in the contest’s second overtime, spoiled a 2-goal comeback by Thomas Jefferson in an exciting field hockey home opener for the Cardinals (2-0).

Katherine Doolin opened the scoring for Bishop Ireton early in the first half and Fletcher pushed the advantage to 2-0 before the game’s halfway point. The Colonials, a highly regarded, veteran program, responded like an experienced squad in the second half.

TJ’s Izzy Roscoe solved Ireton’s Anna Fracasso midway through the second period breaking her shutout, then Jenny Kim took a Roscoe pass and suddenly it was a new game at 2-2 in the final ten minutes of the contest.

Momentum had clearly shifted the blue-clan visitors and they pressured Ireton continuously only to see Fracasso keep Ireton in the game with a series of exceptional saves including a wide open shot turned away in the game’s final minute.

The Colonials outshot Ireton 5 to 3 in regulation and had 4 corners to 1 for the Cardinals, but the defense, led by Susie Rhodes and strong play in the midfield kept the Cardinals alive, setting the table for a thrilling overtime.

Thomas Jefferson attacked immediately, gaining a corner early in the first overtime but were unable to convert.  The Colonials recorded three shots in the extra period’s first 4 minutes, but Fracasso was equal the challenge each time.

The end-to-end action continued into the second OT at a furious pace. As the second ten-minute session raced away, Roscoe broke free for an uncontested chance on Ireton’s second year goalkeeper.  The unsung heroine of the game, she kicked away the shot and Ireton counteracted.

Finally, in a scramble at midfield, junior Kelly Mathews snared the ball and quickly fired a headman pass to send Fletcher off to the races.  No one would catch the speedy Cardinal and she fired a blistering shot into the far corner of the goal for the game winner.

“We won’t play a more exciting game this year.” beamed a happy assistant coach, Betty Sixsmith.  The suddenly undefeated Cardinals had survived a quality opponent that outshot them 8-4 for the game and held a 10-1 advantage in corners.

Elizabeth Seton visits Bishop Ireton Monday on Fannon Field for a varsity/JV doubleheader, with a 4pm start for the varsity in their WCAC opener.  Some might suspect there is still more excitement yet to come for the third-year program.

Thomas Jefferson    0  2  0  0     2

Bishop Ireton             2  0  0  1     3

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Soccer is often referred to as “the beautiful game” but the Cardinals boys  opener was a painful experience as a pair of penalties doomed the home team on Witter Field Tuesday afternoon.

Flint Hill converted a free kick from 20 yards out to take a 1-0 lead  after Ireton goalkeeper Andrew Parham had made an initial stop. When the referee gave the Huskies a second opportunity because the whistle had not been blown, they didn’t waste the chance.

The lead grew to 2-0 on a penalty kick for the Oakton visitors.  Joey Faddoul tallied in the game’s waning moments but the redbirds would come no closer, 2-1.

Bishop Ireton (0-1) travels to Pope John Paul the Great on September 13th for their first road test of the young season.

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The Cardinals sputtered offensively, but the defense shutout Park View Friday.

Bishop Ireton’s young offense struggled to find a rhythm in the first half, with penalties and turnovers frustrating the Cardinals throughout the first two quarters.  But the defense held Park View’s Patriots all day long, giving the “O” time to find the right combination.  This year’s football team is persistent, a hard working group that made head coach Tony Verducci optimistic heading into halftime trailing 2-0.

“This is a hard working group, they don’t get down easily.” observed Verducci. “I am very happy with how they stuck with it when it was hard, when things weren’t going our way early.”

Bishop Ireton’s defense stonewalled the Patriot run game and used opportune turnovers to stall the visitors when they started to gain some momentum.  Ireton special teams chipped in a blocked punt and together it ended with the home team carrying some momentum into O’Connell week.

It was a rough start to the season opener for the home team however, after a beautiful interception by Corey Johnson, the Cardinals were stalled.  An Andrew Latrash punt was blocked out of the endzone with 7:08 remaining in the opening period and Ireton was down the unusual 2-0 on the safety.

While the offense struggled to solve the Patriots, the defense was steady.  Latrash and the special teams rebounded from the pair of blocked punts earlier to get off a 51-yard punt that rolled dead on the Patriot 11.  While Park View survived further trouble in the first half to guard a 2-0 lead at the half, things seemed to be ready to break for the home team.

Ireton stormed out of the locker room to start the third quarter behind Hudson Sullivan rushing and quarterback Andrew Latrash running and throwing, the Cardinals marched to the goal line before Sullivan was stripped from behind the the pigskin bounced out of the back of the end zone for a touchback with 9:56 left in the period. Shortly thereafter, however, Ireton would find the end zone for the first home score on the Fannon Field new Nevco scoreboard. A 13-play, 80-yard drive was capped by a Hudson Sullivan 5-yard touchdown, giving Ireton a 7-2 advantage.

The final period saw the Cardinals go back to work, starting their next scoring drive on their 22 after a Park View fumble.   From the Ireton 40, Latrash rolled right on a keeper, broke a tackle at the line of scrimmage, then spun and cut back across the field and simply outran the remaining Patriot defenders for a 60-yard touchdown run at the 9:00 minute mark.

As Park View tried to get back within striking distance, the Ireton defense circled. On a 4th down play deep in their own territory, a short punt became an Ireton first and goal on the five in the waning moments of the contest. Freshman quarterback Chandler Wilder galloped into the end zone from 5 yards out put the game out of reach at 21-2 with just more than a minute to play.

Bishop Ireton (1-0) now prepares for rival Bishop O’Connell (1-1) for the second of four consecutive home tilts. The Knights demolished Paul VI 41-0 rebounding from an opening day setback at powerhouse McDonogh School outside Baltimore, 28-14.  Kickoff at Fannon Field is set for 2pm.

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Two of the WCAC’s top teams locked up in a high scoring affair in  the season opener for both teams in Chevy Chase Tuesday. “We had our chances,” said Bishop Ireton’s head coach, Gino Leon, who enters his third season at the helm of the redbirds. “I saw some very good things, we will get better.”

The Cadets struck first at Quinn Field only to see the Cardinals counter.  St Johns would respond, Ireton would pull even. And, so it went throughout the contest, St Johns unable to pull away, Ireton never able to climb over the tie to get a lead.

Sophomores Grace Hersey scored a pair of goals for Ireton, Lilly Weber added another.  The weekend sees Ireton heading to suburban Baltimore to play at the McDonogh School in a premier MidAtlantic girls tournament. Tentatively the squad will see Bethesda-Chevy Chase in a rematch of a non conference battle last year, the Cardinals eked out a 2-1 win.

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Year in, year out, Potomac School’s girls are a independent schools state qualifier.  This year looks no different for the McLean school as they blitzed a young Ireton squad 7-0 in the season opener at Potomac Tuesday.

“The girls were a little nervous in their first match of the season. But, as the games wore on, they settled down and started to get into a rhythm.  I think we have a better idea what they need to work on.  We will be ready for the next match.” commented the Cardinals’ head coach, Katie Sloper-Johnson.

Bishop Iret0n’s girls return to the courts on Wednesday, September 11 when another state powerhouse, St. Stephens/St. Agnes hosts the Cardinals. Matches begin at 4:00pm at St. Stephens.

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JP Ryan in action early in the 2013 season.

Bishop Ireton’s Cross Country’s 2013-14 season officially kicked off as students return this week for the new school year.

Sophomores Maggie Lohrer and Isabelle Wilcox return after both logged stellar freshman seasons on varsity.  Lohrer was named one of the top 50 fastest runners in high school girls cross-country in 2013.  Natalie Irwin and Kaitlin Luzik, both juniors, are likely to round out the top four for the varsity girls.  Twelve girls in all are returning from the previous season, including seniors Annie Barletta, Maria Manzek, Caroline Mea and Loren Gant, with as many new additions to the team.

Of the 18 returning boys, seniors Duke Roach, Michael LoGrande, John Paul Ryan, and Steven Gottlieb are projected to finish well for varsity.  Roach ran a season’s best of 17:40 at the Virginia Catholic Schools State Cross Country Championship in 2012, and has dedicated considerable time over the summer to improve.  Also returning are juniors Owen Beals and John Holbrook, with sophomores Thomas Ward and Jake Ferrara who all made considerable gains in the previous year.  Freshman boys Sam Paparo and Thomas Washington have joined the team this season, alongside senior Giovanni Hernandez.

The team completed initial time trials Wednesday at the Landon School in Bethesda, Md., determining varsity and junior varsity placement for the Episcopal High School Relays in Alexandria, Va., on Sept. 4 at 4:00 p.m.

For the girls, the varsity lineup includes Maggie Lohrer, Isabelle Wilcox, Virginia Beineke, Kaitlin Luzik, Ann Johnson, Megan Cunningham, Molly Nealon, Annie Barletta, Brigid Nealon, and Caton Brisbin.  Running varsity for the boys are Duke Roach, Michael LoGrande, John Paul Ryan, Joe Simko, Giovanni Hernandez, Steven Gottlieb, Thomas Ward, Patrick Coyne, Pablo Douros, and Matthew Gottlieb.

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