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By Chris Goldberg
TopLaxRecruits.com, Posted 5/18/14
The Bishop Ireton girls’ lacrosse team completed an impressive Daily Double Saturday by stunning St. Stephen’s & St. Agnes, 9-7, in the Virginia Independent Schools Athletic Association championship at Collegiate School in Richmond.
Just five days earlier the Cardinals (20-4) had beaten Good Counsel (MD) for their first DC Interstate Athletic Conference title.
Bishop Ireton – Virginia Independent Schools Athletic Association champions
In Saturday’s win, Bishop Ireton rallied from an early 4-0 deficit and a two-goal halftime deficit to the Saints (29-2), who are ranked fifth by Brine/TopLaxRecruits.
“It’s just incredible,” said senior Charlotte Sofield, who had a goal and three assists for the Cards. “We’ve worked so hard, we deserved it. We have so much individual talent, but what makes us special is we work together.
“Our team is so unselfish, and so reliable. These girls are an amazing group to play with.”
Bishop Ireton took the lead, 8-7, with 10 minutes to play when Kayla Duperrouzel (two goals, one assist) scored off a Sofield feed. Several minutes later, Kelly Larkin (one goal, one assist) hit Kelly Mathews (two goals, one assist) for an insurance tally.
“These girls are amazing,” said Ireton Coach Rick Sofield. “They went down 4-0 in the first 5 minutes, then lost the draw and got a yellow card. It could’ve gotten ugly, but they kept calm killed the card for 1:30, caused a turnover and turned it into a quick goal to make it 4-1.
“From there we just chipped away.”
Kendall Cunningham scored three goals to lead Bishop Ireton and Olivia Cole (three saves) and Amelia Cole (one save) handled the goaltending.
Sofield said her team did not panic after falling behind.
“We knew what we had to do,” she said. “Everyone kept their cool, everyone made the little plays that needed to happen to put ourselves on top. Our coach tells us games have up swings and down swings, we knew our upswing would come.”
Bishop Ireton had never beaten St. Stephen’s, the perennial Virginia powerhouse that is near the top of the national rankings every year.
“It was a great ‘first’ for our team,” Charlotte Sofield said. “This win is validation. It legitimizes our program.
“Our warm ups say ‘it’s not an accident’ and that doesn’t mean just this year. Our program has been building for this moment since 2011 and we will continue to build and progress.”
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