Bishop Ireton High School | Archive | March, 2015

The Bishop Ireton JV Men’s Lacrosse team played a determined game against the Gonzaga Eagles on Fannon Field on Saturday, but lost 12-0.  Short handed due to academic commitments and illness, the Cardinals fought throughout the game, but had difficulty mounting an effective offense.

Sophomore Defensemen Declan Sofield played very well, harassing opponents and causing turnovers throughout the game. Sophomore Defenseman Alex Byrd, who had never played goalie until Wednesday’s practice, played an excellent game in goal, making 10 saves.

The Cardinals face St. Mary’s Ryken this Thursday on Fannon Field.  Gametime is slated for approximately 5:30pm

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Cardinals gather late in the 4th quarter of the game with Rockhurst of Kansas City.

Bishop Ireton’s home opener was a thriller, but with :19.9 left in the first overtime, Rockhurst High School of Kansas City scored the game-winning goal, topping the Cardinals 7-6.  The setback overshadowed a 17-save effort by junior Ryan Verducci, who kept the Cardinals in the game throughout.

Neither team could gain more than a one-goal advantage on a sunny, wind Sunday afternoon.  Rockhurst took a 1-0 lead, Reed Thompson scored the first of his two first half goals to get Ireton on top.  Cory Conway tallied twice in the second half to pick up the Cardinals down the stretch.

Ireton would edge ahead by a goal only to see the Hawklets counter. With 5 minutes to play, Verducci kept the Cardinals ahead with 4 spectacular saves in a span of 15 seconds. It was a back-and-forth afternoon, strong play by the goalies, evenly played between the squads.

Rockhurst tied the game late with a relentless offensive attack that sent the match to overtime.  The teams battled evenly into the 4-minute overtime before the visitors capitalized in the final rush  for the win.

Bishop Ireton fell to 0-3, 0-1 in conference play. The Cardinals return to action on Tuesday when Maret visits Fannon Field at 4pm.

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Former coach Joey Kestermann presents the JV jersey #15 to Liam McHugh as current head coach, Brendan Rose looks on.

This past Monday night at Bishop Ireton, the men’s lacrosse team had a special presentation. The team gathered together for the kickoff of the season with a pasta dinner where coaches also presented this year’s team with their jerseys.

The surprise was that the first jerseys handed out this season hold a special meaning to Bishop Ireton and especially to the men’s lacrosse program. The #15 jersey is a symbol in the program because it was worn by a special young alumni that would do anything for our “Team”. The emphasis on “Team” is significant because our honoree not only touched the lives of people directly associated with the lacrosse program, but the many friends, families and school community that is Bishop Ireton.

In April 2010 the men’s lacrosse family lost a cornerstone member of its alumni unexpectedly when Chris Delaware, class of 1998,  died.  He was an outstanding young man who would put anyone’s needs above his own to ensure their success. He not only excelled on the field as a player but also selflessly returned to Bishop Ireton to man the sidelines as a coach so he could share his passion, knowledge and attitude to shape future young gentleman. So to honor this great alumnus’s contributions and his life, the program will annually present a player at each level with the #15 jersey to carry on his memory.

Former varsity head coach Joey Kestermann, a close friend, teammate,and no stranger to the program made the presentation after  honoring the memory of Chris Delaware before presenting the first jersey of the year.

This year’s honorees are both well deserving leaders on and off the field. At the Varsity level the recipient was Ryan Verducci and the JV recipient was Liam McHugh.

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Senior captain Ryan Scott ended his high school hockey career as the Cardinals’ representative in the annual all star game in February.

Senior Ice Hockey Captain, Ryan Scott, represented the Cardinals at the 2015 Northern Virginia Scholastic Hockey League (NVSHL) All-Star Game on February 18th at the Ashburn Ice House.

He was selected by the league coaches as the sole Cardinal at the game which featured the 46 best high school hockey players from the 21 teams in the league across Northern Virginia. Ryan earned his spot in the game by finishing 3rd overall in league scoring with 21 goals and 19 assists for 40 points in 10 regular season games. Ryan also participated in last years All-Star game along with then senior, Stephen Gerke.

The Bishop Ireton Ice Hockey team finished the season with a 3-7 record but were within one win in their last game of a playoff berth, which made for a very exciting last week of the season.

Congratulations to Ryan and the rest of the Cardinals Ice Hockey team for an exciting season.

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Ireton seniors pose for a senior day photo. Class of 2015 made its mark in the pool and the School.

The 2015 VISAA swim & dive championships were the culminating event for a memorable Bishop Ireton swim and dive season.  TheWomen’s squad finished 7^th overall with a final score of 120 while the Men’s squad finished 9^th overall with a final score of 105. Trinity Episcopal won the men’s competition with 327 points while Collegiate School captured the women’s crown with 271.

Ben Gorski and Anna Shumate each swam to state champions in the 100 Men’s and Women’s Breaststroke, respectively.   Gorski capped his BI career with a dazzling 54.76 finish that also qualified him as an All American in that event. School records were also broken by Ben Gorski in the 200 IM, Anna Shumate in the 50 Free, Emma Klein in the 100 Back and the Men’s 200 Medley Relay team (AJ Salvatori, Ben Gorski, Michael Morrison and Jimmy Grant).

Highlights of the meet results:

Men’s 100 Breaststroke – 1^st Place Medal / State Champ / All American – Ben Gorski (New School Record: 54.76)

Women’s 100 Breaststroke – 1^st Place Medal / State Champ – Anna Shumate (New School Record: 1:04.97)

Women’s 50 Free – 2^nd Place Medal – Anna Shumate (New School Record: 24.07)

Men’s 200 Medley Relay – 2^nd Place Medal – AJ Salvatori, Ben Gorski, Michael Morrison, Jimmy Grant (New School Record: 1:36.84)

Men’s 200 Individual Medley – 3^rd Place Medal – Ben Gorski (New School Record: 1:53.12)

Women’s 100 Butterfly – 5^th Place Medal – Emma Klein

Women’s 200 Free Relay – 5^th Place Medal – Emma Klein, Clara Boggs, Anna Shumate, Lori Abbed

Women’s 200 Medley Relay – 6^th Place Medal – Emma Klein, Anna Shumate, Abigail Grillo, Hayley Snell

Men’s 400 Free Relay – 7^th Place Medal – Jimmy Grant, Jared Steen, Michael Morrison, AJ Salvatori

Women’s 100 Back – 8^th Place Medal – Emma Klein (New School Record: 1:00.06)

Men’s 100 Back – 10^th Place – AJ Salvatori

Men’s 200 Free – 13^th Place – Michael Morrison

Women’s 400 Free Relay – 15^th Place – Anney Matlock, Abigail Grillo, Anna Fracasso, Clara Boggs

In an electrifying atmosphere of competition, the Bishop Ireton swimmers soared off the starting blocks to take two State Championships and break six school records at the Virginia Independent School Athletic Association Championship in Richmond this past weekend. Hosted at the Collegiate School Aquatic Complex, 49 teams put their best swimmers in the water in the culminating meet of the high school season.

There were several Cardinal mascot sightings during the finals sessions on Friday and Saturday afternoon to cheer the swimmers to do their best in the intense environment against the state’s top swimmers.

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Patrick Moseh (2) drives to the basket against DeMatha during his senior season at Bishop Ireton. The Springfield native was named freshman of the year in the Mountain East Conference.

Wheeling Jesuit Cardinals’ Patrick Moseh was named the Mountain East Conference freshman of the year, the MEC announced last week.  The Bishop Ireton alum, class of 2014, was a mainstay with Coach Neil Berkman’s Cardinals who secured 18 wins in Moseh’s junior and senior campaigns at Ireton.   Those Cardinals derailed defending WCAC champs Gonzaga in the 2013 conference tournament and then sent the 2013 champs, Bishop O’Connell, home early in the quarterfinals the following year.

Moseh led all MEC freshmen in scoring with 13.7 points per game and averaged 5 rebounds per game.

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Junior Ryan Verducci had a strong start in goal for the Cardinals Wednesday.

The debut of Coach Brandon Rose was an overcast, cool March scrimmage, but the new Ireton skipper liked what he saw in the team’s opening action Wednesday.  St Andrew’s Episcopal called on the Cardinals for a varsity and junior varsity scrimmage. And, by the looks of the crowd size, the Cardinal faithful didn’t want to miss any opportunity to see the “new look” Bishop Ireton squad.

“The varsity played a top caliber first quarter,  lots of opportunities with a high tempo.” commented Rose after the event. “And, the junior varsity is poised to be a very close knit group with the chemistry already building.”

Weather permitting, Bishop Ireton will open the regular season at 1pm Saturday on Fannon Field when the Huskies of Flint Hill visit the Cardinals. The JV game will follow.

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Bishop Ireton’s defending VISAA & WCAC girls’ lax team clearly understands they are among the teams “to beat” this season.

The 2015 Bishop Ireton girls’ lacrosse team started preparing to defend their historic May 2014 VISAA (9-7 vs. St. Stephen’s & St. Agnes) and WCAC (17-7 vs. Good Counsel) titles almost immediately after winning them. The current team knows that last year’s “It’s not an accident” motto at this point is more of a challenge than anything else since the Cardinals are now the defending champions everyone wants to beat. Every Ireton player is ready to prove last season was no fluke.

The 2014 nationally top-10 ranked Bishop Ireton program graduated two seniors from that history making squad. This year’s strong unit is returning 10 of 12 starters. The girls’ lacrosse program currently includes 12 future NCAA Division I women’s lacrosse players: seniors Natalie Irwin—defense (Navy), Kaitlin Luzik—defense (Virginia), Kelly Mathews—attack (Boston University), and Charlotte Sofield—midfield (North Carolina); juniors Brittany Dolan—defense (Penn State), Grace Fletcher—attack (Liberty), Kelly Larkin—attack (Navy), Maggie Lohrer—midfield (Boston University), and Susan Morad—defense (Manhattan); and sophomores Kate Carney—attack/midfield (Cincinnati), Amelia Cole—goalie (Denver), and Kayla Marshall—midfield (Louisville).

The 2015 varsity and junior varsity girls’ lacrosse players are Kate Carney, Amelia Cole, Morgan DeCanio, Brittany Dolan, Kayla Duperrouzel, Grace Fletcher, Julie Hanson, Natalie Irwin, Kelly Larkin, Lexi Ledoyen, Maggie Lohrer, Lizzie Lohrer, Kaitlin Luzik, Christine Macey, Kayla Marshall, Kelly Mathews, Susan Morad, Madison Mote, Charlotte Sofield, Maddie Stephens, Maggie Wiltsie, Jackie Bewick, Caton Brisbin, Megan Cunningham, Claire Heaney, Ann Johnson, Katie Ryan, Annie Sullivan, Mackenzie Wallace, Lori Abbed, Hayden Britt, Claire Farrell, Molly Gillard, Abigail Grillo, Libby Lee, Frankie Littleton, Kaitlin McGuckin, Molly Nealon, Mia Reichelt, Hannah Sliman, and Kate Wimbish.

The 2015 varsity team has been ranked pre-season #1 in the South Region by TopLaxRecruits.com. The varsity Cardinals have also been ranked pre-season #3 in the nation by USA Today High School Sports. Bishop Ireton has also been nationally ranked pre-season #4 in the Nike/Lacrosse Magazine Preseason High School Girls’ Top 25. Senior Charlotte Sofield has been named to the first team of USA Today’s inaugural American Family Insurance ALL-USA Preseason Girls Lacrosse Team.

Sophomore Mackenzie Wallace was a member of the 2017 championship team at the Nike Elite 120 invitation-only showcase event in January. Sophomores Caton Brisbin, Amelia Cole, and Megan Cunningham have been selected to represent Virginia at the 2015 Brine National Lacrosse Classic in Boyds, MD, between June 29 & July 2. Amelia Cole has also been chosen to be a member of the 2015 FCA Lacrosse Women’s National High School Team that will play in the Lake Placid Summit Classic in August.

Seniors key to developing team’s blue-collar work ethic

Maggie Wiltsie, Kaitlin Luzik, Julie Hanson, Natalie Irwin, Christine Macey, Kelly Mathews, and Charlotte Sofield are the members of the program’s first graduating class to complete four tough years of voluntary pre-season workouts – pre-dawn sessions starting at 6:00 a.m. during the school year. All of these seniors have been key to building the hard-working culture which has helped the Bishop Ireton girls’ lacrosse team develop the realistic goal of another “6 Games in May” in 2015. These girls have sacrificed so much to help develop the blue-collar “Ireton way” of getting the job done—luck has had nothing to do with it.

Keeping it in the family…

Senior Natalie Irwin is the third and last of the Irwin sisters to play lacrosse at Bishop Ireton after following in the footsteps of sisters Maddie (’10) and Eva (’12). Junior Maggie Lohrer is joined by her freshman sister Lizzie as members of the girls’ lacrosse family this season. Sophomore Megan Cunningham keeps the family name alive in 2015 after being part of the program last year alongside her cousin Kendall (’14). Sophomores Claire Heaney and Molly Nealon are also following in the footsteps of their sisters Brenna (’13) and Margaret (’12) respectively. Sophomore goalie Amelia Cole and her sister Olivia (’14) covered the crease for the Cardinals last year.

Everyone’s Contributions are Vital to the Cardinals’ Success

It does not matter what Bishop Ireton’s final 2015 regular-season record or ranking turns out to be or, for that matter, what individual players are eventually doing after high school graduation. This unified team’s overwhelmingly most important collective goal is another post-season of “6 Games in May”—just like what happened in 2014. In a nutshell, everyone is capable of doing and willing to do whatever it takes for the team to achieve post-season success.

Ireton girls’ varsity and JV lacrosse players have gone as far afield as Colorado, Florida, Massachusetts, and North Carolina to play in tournaments and attend camps in preparation for the upcoming 18-game regular season (one game still TBD). Since last summer, focused voluntary workout sessions interspersed with club team events, one-day 7v7-type tournaments, and winter indoor lax have all helped all the girls mentally and physically prepare themselves for the upcoming season.

There are four scheduled pre-season varsity scrimmages coming up soon. Bishop Ireton goes to 2014 national #43 (all 2014 rankings according to LaxPower.com) St. Paul’s School for Girls (Maryland IAAM A & 7-7 overall in 2014) in Brooklandville, MD, on Friday, March 6; hosts western Massachusetts’ Northfield Mount Hermon (from the Division I Northern New England League & 6-8 overall in 2014) at Fannon Field on Cambridge Road in Alexandria on Tuesday, March 10; and travels to Virginia/Northern Region 6A—VHSL power and national #35 Oakton HS (15-3 overall in 2014) on Wednesday, March 11.

Ireton’s pre-season concludes with a road trip to Cape Henlopen HS in Lewes, DE, to play in the 5^th Annual Delmar/Mid-Atlantic Lacrosse Play Day. This big event on Saturday, March 14, features five of the top 10 teams in the country in 2014—#1 McDonogh (MD), #2 Moorestown (NJ), #5 Marriott’s Ridge (MD), #7 Bishop Ireton, and #9 Severn (MD). The teams rounding out this day of great girls’ lacrosse are #22 Mount Hebron (MD), #52 Queen Anne’s County (MD), and #100 Cape Henlopen (DE).

Taking Care of Business at Home

The varsity team’s very tough regular-season schedule right now includes hard home games at Fannon Field versus national #11 Roland Park Country Day School (Maryland IAAM A & 16-5 overall in 2014) on Saturday, March 21; national #21 Notre Dame Preparatory School (Maryland IAAM A & 10-5 overall in 2014) on Saturday, March 28; tough Hinsdale Central (18-3 overall in 2014 & #2 in Illinois plus #1 in the IL W Sub section) on Sunday, March 29; national #32 Collegiate School of Richmond, VA (17-6 overall in 2014), on Friday, April 10; and the always-dangerous Delaware state champion Cape Henlopen (13-5 overall in 2014) on Saturday, May 2.

Ireton has never played IAAM powers Roland Park and Notre Dame Prep, or Illinois’ Hinsdale Central; last played Collegiate in a Friday, May 16, 2014, VISAA semifinal state playoff game that the Cardinals won 9-8 after trailing 4-3 at halftime and scoring the winning goal with less than one minute left in regulation; and was taken to double overtime (2OT) before beating Cape Henlopen 12-11 in a hard-fought, regular-season battle up in Delaware on Friday, May 2, 2014.

Ireton’s Blue-Collar Work Ethic Goes on the Road

Away games during the upcoming 2015 regular season that will be especially demanding include contests against Washington, D.C.’s Georgetown Visitation (17-8 overall in 2014 & #2 in the ISL AA) for the first game of the season on Tuesday, March 17; five-time (2010-present) national champion (according to LaxPower.com) McDonogh School (overall 21-0 in 2014 & #1 in Maryland’s IAAM A) on Saturday, April 11; and WCAC powerhouse Good Counsel (14-6 overall in 2014 & #2 in the WCAC) on Wednesday, April 29.

Basic common sense says Bishop Ireton’s first-ever game against McDonogh will be an especially daunting challenge for the Cardinals as the Eagles own an incredible 112-game winning streak that dates back to 2009.

The Cardinals go to Georgia to play in the nationally recognized Legacy Cup event near Atlanta versus Mannheim Township (overall 22-3 in 2014 & #1 in Pennsylvania’s Central section), and national #25 Milton (overall 19-3 in 2014 & #1 in Georgia) both on Saturday, April 18. Two big games on the same day should be good test of Ireton’s character, strength, and endurance.

Upcoming WCAC Opponents

The rest of Ireton’s Washington Catholic Athletic Conference (WCAC) schedule includes tough varsity games against always strong foes. The Cardinals visit Elizabeth Seton on Friday, March 20; go to Bishop McNamara on Tuesday, March 24; travel to St. Mary’s Ryken on Friday, March 27; host Holy Cross on Tuesday, March 31; take on St. John’s at Fannon Field on Tuesday, April 21; go to Bishop O’Connell on Friday, April 24; and host Paul VI on Tuesday, April 28.

Click here to see the full 2015 regular-season schedule for the Bishop Ireton Cardinals girls’ varsity lacrosse team.

Click here to see the full 2015 regular season schedule for the Bishop Ireton Cardinals girls’ junior varsity team.

Read Reflections on Recordbreaking 2014 Girls’ Lax Season or click here to review Bishop Ireton’s extraordinary 2014 season

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Point guard junior Paige Russell and mates will look to improve on the Cardinals’ best finish in years next season as Cardinals fall to top ranked PVI in state semifinals Friday.

If Paul VI Catholic had any letdown from the night before and their thrilling WCAC championship win, it wasn’t evident Friday as the Panthers methodically dispatched the upstart Cardinals 65-48 to move to the state finals for the 9th consecutive season, where they will play WCAC rival Bishop O’Connell for the state title.

Bishop Ireton has played the Panthers tough, taking a lead to intermission earlier in the month in Fairfax. They knew what to expect in their fourth meeting of the season with the 8-time defending state champs.

PVI edged out to a 13-8 lead after one period of play before going on a 10-2 run to open up a 23-10 margin on the Cardinals. Ireton steadied at that point and went to intermission trailing 29-17.

A three at the buzzer ballooned the Panthers’ advantage to 45-30 as the third stanza ended. The game ramped up in the 4th quarter offensively, but the 18-point final period outburst did little to close the gap as the Panthers added 20 in the final quarter.

The loss sends the Cardinals home to wrap up the 15-16 campaign, the most wins in School history for the girls. Two of Ireton’s five seniors, Cece Leone (18 points) and Alex Stipano (15 points) again paced the Cardinals in scoring, including four more three-point field goals for Stipano, the Washington metro area’s top three-point shooter.  Charlotte Sofield, Danielle Hatchett, and Hannah Miller also completed their varsity basketball career with Bishop Ireton.

“It was an exciting season, an enjoyable one to watch.” said athletic director, Bill Simmons. “Hats off to our seniors, they went through some lean times and stuck with it. They worked hard with our new coaching staff, they lead by example for our younger players, and they played hard every night. People noticed what they did this year. There is a new feeling about our basketball program. They had a lot to do with that.  And, we have a great group of players returning. Coach Harris has exceeded expectations, he has raised the bar, and we are looking forward to next year!”

News and Notes:

– 15 wins is the most by a Bishop Ireton varsity girls team since the school become co-ed in 1990. It is also the most by an Ireton basketball coach in the first year at the school.

– Alex Stipano is the only Cardinal to lead a Washington Post basketball statistical category since the Post began publishing  the lists. Her 93 three-balls are 19 more than the next closest player.

– Stipano was Ireton’s first WCAC 1st team all conference player, all state teams will be announced in March.

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