by DAVE FACINOLI
What was anticipated as being a rebuilding season instead became an historic championship campaign for the Bishop O'Connell Knights girls field hockey team. The first-time title came when the second-seed Knights won the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference (WCAC) tournament, nipping and upsetting top-seed St. John's, 1-0, in the title match. O'Connell was 3-0 in the tournament, outscoring those opponents 9-0.
After that tournament, O'Connell was the fifth-seed in the Division I private-school state tourney. The Knights finished 1-1 with a first-round road upset over No. 4 seed St. Catherine's of Richmond, then lost to top-seed and host Trinity Episcopal, 4-0, another Richmond squad, in the semifinals. That loss snapped O'Connell's six-match winning streak, which included five shutouts in a row.
Megan Sullivan has been O'Connell's coach for five seasons, quickly turning around the program, which won little before she took over. After the Knights enjoyed their best season to date a year ago under Sullivan, many top players graduated from that squad. As a result, and with a difficult 2025 schedule on tap, Sullivan initially believed 2025 might be a bit of a rebuilding year. Instead, O'Connell got organized quickly and finished with that WCAC title and a 16-6-1 overall record. The 16 wins tied last season's record for the most victories in one year.
"These players wanted to learn, watch film, go over things and work hard," Sullivan said. "This team was locked in and exceeded my expectations. After last season, these players knew what kind of shoes they had to fill."
Also this season, the 68 goals O'Connell scored were a single-season best along with 10 shutouts. "Our defense was entirely new this season and it was phenomenal," Megan Sullivan said.
In the WCAC championship match against St. John's, sophomore Ysens Mason scored the goal with classmate Lizzie Guy having the assist. In goal, junior Sophia Lianos earned the shutout. O'Connell's other wins in the tournament were over St. Paul VI Catholic, 3-0, in the semifinals and Holy Cross, 5-0, in the first round. Overall, the team was 8-1 against WCAC opponents this season. Against Paul VI, Mason and senior Caitlin Musolino scored goals with freshman Charlie Mitek having two assists.
In the state tournament, sophomore Lena Sullivan had the goal against St. Catherine's and Lianos made 13 saves for the shutout in goal. The win over St. Catherine's avenged a 3-2 regular-season loss to the opponent, also on the road.
O'Connell's 2025 schedule included matches against three teams that played in state championship games. They were Trinity Episcopal, Collegiate of Richmond that lost in the Division I state final, and the public-school Tabb Tigers of Yorktown that played in the Virginia High School League’s Class 3 state-tourney final.
The Knights opened their season with a 5-2 loss against Tabb, then responded with four wins in a row. The two goals O'Connell scored against Tabb were the most the Tigers allowed in a match entering the state final. "We hung in there against Tabb and learned a lot," Megan Sullivan said.
O'Connell also played and defeated perennial top public-school teams from Northern Virginia like Woodson, Robinson and South County. In a regular-season national tournament, the Knights played Episcopal of Texas and Moorestown, N.J.
Lena Sullivan was the team's top goal scorer this season with 21 to go with 11 assists. The 21 goals were a single-season individual best as were the 19 assists by Mason, also having seven goals. Both players were chosen first team all-WCAC and first-team all-state. Musolino had nine goals and six assists. Junior Anelia Werner had eight goals and as many assists, Mitek had seven goals and four assists, senior Katherine Jordan had seven goals and two assists, Guy had four goals and four assists, senior Isabelle Vivarelli had two goals and four assists and sophomore Nora Smith had a goal.
Also chosen first-team all-WCAC were Werner, Guy and Lianos. Making second team was Vivarelli. Chosen honorable mention were Jordan and fellow seniors Abby Freitas and Julia Vernau. Other contributing O'Connell players were seniors Ellie Sorenson, Hartley Polak and Anna Zea; juniors Emily Reuther, Delia Brooks, Maristella Thirnburg and Eleni Kanakos; sophomores Emilie Vivarelli and Michaela Zawadzki; and freshman Lucy Paquette.