The Bishop Ireton Lady Cardinals finished the 2005 soccer season as WCAC runners-ups after dropping a 5-1 decision to upstart St. John’s in the title match Nov. 12 at Montgomery County Soccer Complex in Germantown, Md.

Ireton, coached by Chris Ryan (WCAC Coach of the Year), finished its banner season with an overall record of 15-5-2, including 13-5-1 in the competitive WCAC. It has been rare for a coach outside of O'Connell or Good Counsel to garner WCAC coach of the year honors, but the British native pulled off the feat in his second season.

"Coach Ryan is very encouraging. He always aims for us to reach higher," said Ireton junior striker Danielle Axenfeld.

Ireton achieved some "rare air" when they advanced to this season’s soccer finals for only the second time in school history. "I was very disappointed that we didn't do better than we did tonight (versus St. John’s). I'm a perfectionist," said Ryan.

At halftime, Ireton trailed the Lady Cadets 3-0. Sophomore defender Alex Galdos put the Lady Cardinals on the scoreboard early in the second half with a successful penalty kick. Galdos's line drive strike beat St. John’s keeper Jessica Stone to her left side.

In the contest, Ireton nearly equaled St. John’s in the total number of shots (16-15), but the Cardinals weren't able to capitalize on their attempts.
"We had a lot of scoring opportunities, but we just weren't able to finish," said senior striker Krissy Vornadore.

"We had more speed than they had, but their coach did a good job getting their intensity level up in the second half," said St. John’s head coach Errol Brathwaite.
Regarding the overall season, Vornadore said, "We defeated every team in the conference at least once this year."

In the WCAC semi-finals (Nov. 10), Ireton defeated O'Connell 1-0 on the Knights’ home field. Scoring the game winner was senior striker Gwen Holdgreiwe, also a top basketball player for head coach Mike Hutton.
In the WCAC quarter-finals (Nov. 8), Ireton defeated Paul VI 2-1 in Alexandria. Scoring for Ireton was Holdgreiwe and Axenfeld. On the season, Axenfeld, Foltz, Vornadore and Hodgreiwe combined for nearly 45 goals, making it one of the most dominant "foursomes" in Cardinal history.

The championship loss to St. John’s marked the final high school game for Foltz, Holdgreiwe, Vornadore, defender Melinda Cleveland, defender Caitlin Love, midfielder Moe Finn, and reserve Kerry Ardberg.
"We had a terrific year. It was great to have beaten Good Counsel on senior night," said Foltz.
A number of strong players return for next season, including Axenfeld, Galdos, keeper Jackie Bader, defender Katie McCarthy, midfielder Katie Santos, midfielder Michelle Prevost and reserves Sally Dahljelm, Mimi Burns, Molly Malloy, Brianna Cook and Kayla Wilharm.

"We have the potential to be just as good next year as we were this year," said Axenfeld.
Ryan, assisted by Dave Madlin and Craig Scott, plans on being back next season. "We have made a lot of progress in these two seasons thus far," he said.