The Bishop O’Connell Knights enjoyed another strong campaign, one of the best yet, in boys soccer.
The Knights finished 17-5, the most wins in a season since Chris Jennings took over as head coach 13 years ago. The squad had eight shutouts and reached the tournament semifinals of both the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference and Division I state competitions.
“We were a bounce here or there away from winning two trophies, maybe,” Jennings said about the tournaments. “We were good enough to win both. It was an enjoyable season. We shared the ball well and were entertaining to watch. Everyone bought into their roles and it was a good collective team effort.”
O’Connell’s season began with three straight 4-0 victories. It ended with a 3-2 loss to the No. 2 seed and champion Episcopal Maroon of Alexandria in the state-tournament semifinals, as the sixth seed finished 2-1 in the competition.
The Knights were unlucky in the state semifinal, with multiple shots hitting off the goalposts or crossbar and bouncing away.
The two state wins came over No. 11 seed Woodberry Forest and No. 3 seed Collegiate.
Prior to the state, the No. 2 seed Knights went 1-1 in the WCAC tourney, falling to DeMatha, 2-0, in the semifinals after defeating St. John’s on penalty kicks in the quarterfinals.
O’Connell was led by three players chosen Division I all-state. Junior Sullivan Carter and senior Gabriel Jimenez made first team and sophomore Zayden Bediako second team. Each also made first-team all-WCAC along with senior Peter Boniface, who led the team in goal with 20 to go with eight assists.
Two of the goals by Boniface came off corner kicks that he curved directly into the net. “You can watch soccer your entire life and never see that once, and Peter did it twice this season,” Jennings said.
Sullivan had some 10 goals and as many assists, with Bediako having seven goals.
Making second-team all-WCAC were senior Colin Buckhorn and sophomore Campbell Knisely. Making honorable-mention were senior Renzo Reynoso, junior goalie Cameron Flores and junior Zack Robbins.
Others who had significant playing time for O’Connell were sophomores Kevin Colevas, Tommy McBride and Luke Krumenacker.
Jennings was chosen as the WCAC’s Coach of the Year. He has 129 victories in his 13 seasons as O’Connell’s coach. The Knights have qualified for the state tournament in all of his 13 seasons.
“We had experienced players this year, so we knew it was going to be a good season,” said Jennings, who also is the head coach of the public-school Robinson Rams in Fairfax County during the spring season.
NOTE: O’Connell had a 7-1 record against private-school teams from Northern Virginia this season. Last season, O’Connell also lost just once to Northern Virginia private-school teams.
