Imgram, Carroll Lead O'Connell to Perfect Season

The Bishop O'Connell Lady Knights won their third consecutive WCAC soccer championship Nov. 6 at Wakefield High School in Arlington. O'Connell, coached by Alberto Starace and Tim Lucas, knocked off the Good Counsel Falcons 3-1 to claim their ninth overall title.

DeMatha defeated Gonzaga 2-1 in the boys’ final.

"Offensively, we wanted to pressure them tonight. At times, we might have played a little too aggressively," said Starace.

The Knights (20-0 on the season), scored the only goal of the first half when sophomore striker Liz Carroll scored the game's first goal.

"Mick Imgram made an excellent cross of about 40 yards. Liz ran onto it and put it in from about 10 yards out approximately 24 minutes into the opening half," said Starace. The Knights took the lead into intermission.

"I told the girls at halftime that we needed to take more shots and not to squander our offensive opportunities. Also, we couldn't afford to make mistakes in the [defensive] back," said Starace.

Twenty two minutes into the second half, Good Counsel's Vicki Anagnostopoulos tied the contest 1-1.

Thirty four minutes into the second half, O'Connell senior striker Mick Imgram scored the decisive goal of the contest, her 32nd goal of the season (a school record).

"It was a indirect kick. Senior midfielder Kerry Philbin pushed the ball to Michelle (Mick). Imgram knocked a hard line drive shot into the goal, which beat the Falcon’s goalkeeper to the right," said Starace.

Senior striker Laura Beth Puglisi added a "penalty kick" in the game’s waning seconds for the 3-1 margin.

Puglisi, headed to Va. Tech, finished with 56 goals in her career. Imgram, headed to Tennessee, finished with 78 goals.

Senior goalkeeper Ariel Baniowski anchored the Knight’s goalkeeping with five saves. O'Connell outshot Good Counsel 16-8.

Senior defenders Melissa Toulouse, Jeanne Neal and freshman defender Brandi Locoe led the Knights defense.

"Defensively, we were quicker and smarter than they were. We all played well tonight," said Baniowski.

Philbin, senior Cassidy Burton, sophomore Kika Toulouse and freshman Greer Drummond spearheaded O’Connell’s midfield play. Carroll, Imgram and Puglisi played "up top" for the Knights.

"This win means a lot, especially to the senior class. We're real close. We wanted to go out well and we did," said Baniowski.

"I'm really glad that we won. The pressure has been on us (O’Connell has been ranked #1 in the country for the majority of the year). The seniors have all worked hard for this. They really deserved to finish with a perfect season," said Starace.

O'Connell handily defeated Seton in the quarterfinals and St. John’s in the semi-finals.

The Paul VI Lady Panthers dropped their quarterfinal match, but Bishop Ireton knocked off Holy Cross 3-0 in the WCAC quarterfinals before losing to Good Counsel 2-0 in the semi-finals Nov. 5.

Ireton, coached by Chris Ryan and Dave Madelin, finished the season with an overall record of 10-7-1.

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