Soccer

The soccer season is in full swing, and men’s varsity Coach James Fendryk expects each game to be a battle for the men’s teams.

“Every game will be hard for us,” Fendryk said. In his opinion, his team’s main weakness is mental lapses.

Varsity center forward senior Camillo Fortunato believes the season is promising. “I think it will go well. We have a solid defense and offense, and maybe we can even get a home playoff game this season,” Fortunato said. Varsity’s record is 6-7, and JV’s record is 3-9-1.

With only three seniors–center midfielder Sophie Centi, right midfielder Meredith Haggerty, and goalie Katie Cooper–women’s varsity will need to step up to supply talent and determination to succeed. Varsity scored big over McDonogh on Oct. 1, beating the number one ranked school in the league by just one goal, scored by senior Sophia Centi. Their overall record is 3-5-1.

Haggerty has high hopes for the season. “I believe that that our soccer season is going to go very well. Right now our record might not show it, but we are playing and working extremely hard until the last minutes of the game, usually leading us into overtime. Our biggest area where we need work is finishing the ball and not taking games into overtime.”

Women’s JV have a record of 2-5-2, tying with NDP and Patterson Mill early in the season. JV and varsity have their last games of the season against Fallston on Oct. 24 and Oct. 23 respectively. Men’s JV and varsity teams have their last games on Oct. 30 against McDonogh.

Cross Country

Women’s cross country coach Robert Torres expects this year’s cross country teams to go far. New runners, including junior Morgan Santiago, have shown potential.

“It’s our deepest quality pack ever,” Torres said.

Captain senior Alex Gromacki said, “I think our leadership this year is really good. Our top seven [the varsity team] have improved a lot and we are training hard this year.”

The women’s team sits at the top of IAAM’s A conference with a perfect 4-0 record. The final meet is Oct. 16 against Severn.

Men’s coach Michael Monaghan believes the team has room to grow. “It’s a rebuilding year. We have a very young team so realistically were looking at being competitive two years down the road. We are looking for more personal records than team wins. It’ll be a struggle in the dual meets this year,” Monaghan said.

“I think the [men’s] season will go well. We have some good runners, three seniors, and we all practice hard. We have a confident team and everyone is driven,” varsity’s number one runner sophomore Evan Moore said.

Men’s record is 0-5, and the last meet is on Oct. 22.

Football

In football season’s opening drive, JV and varsity did well in their games against Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Parkville, and Calvert Hall.

More recently, varsity lost to St. Paul’s 7-34 at the first Friday night home game.

“We run the ball well, we have some good defense, and we work well as a team,” Coach Rich Stichel Jr. said.  His hopes for the season are clear. Currently, varsity’s record is 3-3, and JV’s record is 3-1.

“Our only goal is to get back into the championship game,” Stichel said. The final game of the season for JV is Oct. 31 at Archbishop Curley. The following day, Nov. 1, varsity plays a home game against Archbishop Curley.

Women’s Tennis

Varsity tennis has a record of 3-2 with three games left in the season. Only Beth Tfiloh School has beaten JC. JV has no games this year.

“I think that the season will go quite well. Our coach, George Pannion, thinks we will win the conference. Our strongest opponent is Glenelg,” senior Catey Minnis, a varsity doubles player, said. The team faces Glenelg on Oct. 16 in its second to last game.

“We have a lot of potential. If we focus, we will win the next games easily,” junior Katie Benisch, a varsity doubles player, said.

The last game of the season is on Oct. 18 at St. Timothy’s School. The St. Timothy team is currently 1-4.

“I think we are going to win the conference championship,” junior Molly Exter, a varsity doubles player, said.

Field Hockey

Women’s varsity field hockey Coach Gary Scholl is optimistic about the season. He says that the players are experienced, hard-working, and bonding well.

The varsity team has already played the last year’s top teams in the league, losing to Seton Keough and tying with Maryvale in overtime. The record is 2-5-1, with both wins coming from shut-outs.

“Right now, because we’ve played the best [teams], we are in last—and I can tell you, we are not a last place team,” Scholl said. “We played the three toughest teams right off the bat. We played Maryvale and tied in regulation [but lost in overtime]. We hung in there with the second-ranked team [Maryvale]. Our record is not good currently but I am optimistic. We have teams coming up that are not top ranked. We have great kids that work hard and never quit.”

“I think we’re doing pretty well but I guess we will find out this week after our three games. We are not as good on turf yet. It is a whole different game on turf fields,” varsity left defender senior Kirsten Kyburz said.

The JV team’s record is 6-1, their only loss coming from Mount de Sales. The final games are Oct. 18 against Park School for JV and Oct. 21 against Friends School for varsity.

Volleyball

Women’s JV Volleyball was undefeated until a 0-2 loss against Archbishop Spalding on Oct. 3.

“They call themselves the “Comeback Kids,” as there have been a number of games when we have been down in the third game and have come back to win,” JV Coach Meghan McConville said. The captains are sophomores Parker Day and Mary Greig.

Women’s varsity volleyball crosses into the second half of the season with a winning record of 9-3.

Men’s volleyball is remaining optimistic according to varsity captain senior Brad Paszkiewicz. “I feel like it’s going to get a lot better. It started out rough with the last minute coaching change. We have been working hard and have definitely gotten better.”

Varsity captain junior Tim Kutcher agrees with that outlook. “We have definitely come together and improved as a team and can make ourselves one of the top competitors.”

Men’s JV volleyball has a record of 6-5, and the last game of the season is Oct. 23 against Boys Latin. Also on Oct. 23, both women’s JV and varsity have their last game of the season at Catholic High. Men’s varsity’s record is 3-8, and the last game of the season is Oct. 25 against North Harford.

Kathy Deaver is a Sports Editor for The Patriot and jcpatriot.com.