Championship seasons ended for the Potomac School Panthers girls and boys high-school soccer teams with recent semifinal losses in private-school state-tournament action.
The No. 3-seeded and defending champion girls (12-5) lost to the host and No. 2 seed Bishop O’Connell Knights, 2-0, in the four-team Northern Virginia Independent Schools State Invitational.
The fourth-seeded boys (12-2-5) were nipped by the top seed and unbeaten Cape Henry Collegiate Dolphins of Virginia Beach, 1-0, in the 12-team Division I state tourney. Potomac School topped the fifth-seeded St. Christopher’s Saints of Richmond, 2-1, in the first round.
In previous postseason tournaments this season, the Panthers won their conference championships. Each squad was hoping to win state crowns to cap their campaigns, as the girls did last fall.
For the boys in their win over St. Christopher’s, Marshall Lloyd and Patrick Ritter scored the goals and Luke Swigart had an assist. Wyatt Pence got the win in goal.
In the girls loss to Bishop O’Connell, the Knights scored two second-half goals. Potomac School had a couple of good scoring opportunities, with a shot by Chiara Mizzo hitting the cross bar and bouncing away and another stopped by a leaping catch from the goalie.
Potomac School goalie Amory Imperatore made multiple saves, including stopping a penalty shot.
“We played hard and kept it close,” Potomac School girls coach Ross McEwen said. “They are very good.”
O’Connell also defeated Potomac School, 3-0, in a regular-season match, also at O’Connell a few weeks earlier.
In last year’s state tournament, Potomac School defeated O’Connell in the championship match, after losing to the Knights in the 2022 final.
“It’s always a great match against them, because they are very good,” O’Connell coach Alberto Starace said.
The girls state event was started in 2017. Potomac School had played in the final each season, with two championships, until this fall.
