Cardinals' season ends on pair of late goals, 2-1

Freshman Grace Sklopan (10) was one a number of young Cardinal soccer players with substantial contributions in the 2014 campaign.

Bishop Ireton’s girls soccer team appeared headed to Germantown and a berth in the WCAC championship until the game unraveled in the contest’s final 5 minutes, falling to Bishop O’Connell 2-1 in Alexandria on Thursday. The Knights head to the Maryland SoccerPlex to face perennial powerhouse, Good Counsel.

After a scoreless first half, freshman Grace Sklopan got the Cardinals a lead with her goal in the game’s 43rd minute of play. That margin would hold up against relentless pressure by the visiting Knights, victims of a big Ireton second half blitz in 4-1 loss on October 7th. This time there would be no second half collapse.

A series of wild, physical plays in front of the Ireton net late in the affair set the stage as an O’Connell shot was initially slowed, but finally, painfully for the home team, trickled across the goal line for the tying marker in the final minutes of regulation. Quickly the blue-jerseyed Arlington school was back on the attack, gaining a dangerous corner kick as the time raced away.

A header off a corner kick, those sudden, unpredictable plays in crowd deep the box; they are the plays that put fans on the edge of their seats. And this one got fans out of their seats as O’Connell stunned the Cardinals with the game winner in the bat of an eye in the waning moments of the struggle.

With the VISAA sponsoring girls soccer in the spring, unlike the boys in the fall, the 2014 season ended on that sour note for Bishop Ireton (9-6-3) with the setback. “Closing out a game, the mental side of soccer, is very hard.” said a despondent head coach, Gino Leon. “Against good team, it’s critically important. We will have to get better at it, and we will.”