Being the regular season, there wasn’t as much at stake except bragging rights.
Host Bishop O’Connell Knights earned them with the squad’s 3-0 victory over the Potomac School Panthers in girls high-school soccer action the afternoon of Oct. 4 in Arlington.
What the non-conference match really did was serve as teaser and possible preview to another showdown between the Division I private-school juggernauts later this fall in the Northern Virginia girls state soccer tournament. The teams have met regularly in that competition in recent years, with each defeating the other in the past two state finals.
Potomac School won last fall.
“Both teams are good with dynamic players,” O’Connell coach Alberto Starace said. “We are doing well right now and have a lot of players contributing and getting chances to play.”
O’Connell improved to 8-1-1 with its sixth straight win, five by shutouts, and outscoring its opponents 33-1. Potomac School fell to 4-3, having a three-game winning streak snapped.
The Panthers were missing four key players against O’Connell, one with an injury, another on a college visit and two becasue of travel-team commitments.
“We’d love to play them again with our full team,” Potomac School coach Ross McEwen said. “I liked how we battled, and we have been playing well.”
O’Connell led 2-0 at halftime as sophomore Audrey McKeen and senior Mary Boniface scored the goals. McKeen added a second-half goal off a corner kick from Ryana Dill, giving her 16 goals for the season, including three in an earlier match.
Molly Clark, Hayden McCarty and Emmy Hart were among other O’Connell players who had shots on goal.
“Our defense has been solid and our goalies are playing well,” Starace said.
Mia Morrill and Isabella Gorkowski split the playing time in goal. Other O’Connell starting players against Potomac School were Moira Kinsella, Arden McEldowney, Alex Llaudes, Rachael Zonavetch, Meegan Zonavetch, Molly Kinsella and Bridget Prophett.
Starting players for Potomac School were Grayson Crittenberger, Maddy Dolan, Chiara Mizzo, Kaida Mizzo, Charlotte Perry, Claire Radanovic, Maya Swanson, Ellis Wilson, Sonail Kaneriya and Julia Saba. Goalies Aliyah Majeed-Halla and Amory Imperatore each played a half. Chiara Mizzo had a couple of shots on goal, as did Perry.
The Northern Virginia girls private-school state tournament, when O’Connell and Potomac School could meet again, is in early November.
