Bishop Ireton successfully defended their VISAA state championship Saturday and handed neighboring rival, St Stephens & St Agnes their only loss of the season, 12-10 at Randolph Macon College. "Redemption" was the rally cry according to Coach Rick Sofield. "We fell short in the WCAC playoffs, so we focused on redeeming the season with our effort in the state playoffs" Sophomore Kayla Duperrouzel dominated the draws early in the contest, which allowed Kelly Larkin and Charlotte Sofield to score a pair of goals, Kayla Marshall added another, as the Cardinals soared to a 5-0 lead early. The Saints regrouped out of a timeout at 6-1 and steadily counterattacked, trailing 8-5 at intermission. The Saints' Ellie Majure tied the game midway in the second half at 9-9 before Duperrouzel worked her draw control magic to get momentum back on the second-seeded Cardinals' side. Larkin gave the lead back to Bishop Ireton and soon the lead was 11-9 before the Saints got as close as they were going get at 11-10. After another draw control and Sofield tally, the Cardinals again won the draw with just under 5 minutes to play. The defending champions would not give the undefeated, top-ranked team another opportunity as they spread the field and denied the ball for the balance of the contest. With the win, Bishop Ireton earned an unprecedented second consecutive state title for the school and ended the season 20-3. For the Saints, they suffered their lone defeat of the year in the title game and returned to Alexandria 28-1.