Two powerhouse soccer teams – the girls from Our Lady of Good Good Counsel High School in Olney, and the boys from DeMatha Catholic High School in Hyattsville – recently won the 2014 Washington Catholic Athletic Conference championships, played on Nov. 1 at the Maryland SoccerPlex. Good Counsel’s Lady Falcons needed an extra session to defeat the O’Connell Knights 3-2; and DeMatha also needed an extra session to defeat O’Connell, 2-1. With those championship game victories, Good Counsel improved to 15-4-2 on the season, and DeMatha improved to a 15-1-4 overall mark. In the girls’ game, on a bitterly cold autumn evening, O’Connell led 1-0 at intermission. With 40 minutes to go in regulation, Good Counsel tied the contest at 1-1 when Nicole Bautista sent a corner kick to Lexy Andrews –who found the back of the net – to get the Falcons’ offense in gear.  “I crossed it and Lexy moved off of her mark very well and got it into the back of the net,” Bautista said after the game. The Knights made it 2-1 shortly thereafter, before Good Counsel tied the contest 2-2 10 minutes later when Kori Locksley scored. Neither team could break the deadlock in the waning minutes of the second half, and the title match headed to sudden death overtime. Good Counsel was not to be denied. The Falcons scored six minutes into the extra session when Dana Reed crossed the ball to Julia Abbott, who was able to send the ball into the back of the net and send Good Counsel home with their 10th overall title. Stated Reed - "I did a "step-over" and was able to find Julia in the back." Good Counsel veteran head coach Jim Bruno noted, “These girls really stepped up tonight. We have now won five of the past six titles.” WCAC girls’ first-team players included Good Counsel’s Maddie Pack and Nia Dorsey; Holy Cross’s Jade Ruiters and Delaney Muldoon; Seton’s Ari Green; McNamara’s Melanie Stiles and St. John’s Sammie Scaffidi, who was also named as the player of the year. Seton’s Amanda Lebo was named as the WCAC girls’ soccer coach of the year. In the WCAC boys’ soccer championship game, the Stags and the Knights were tied 0-0 at intermission. O’Connell scored early in the second half to take a 1-0 lead. Nearly 30 minutes went by before the Stags were able to generate the equalizer and eventually send the game into overtime. With 6:01 yet to play in regulation, DeMatha's James Gielen sent a direct kick’ scorcher into the hands of the O'Connell keeper. One minute later, however, Gielen sent a corner kick (from teammate Strick Newsom) into the back of the net, to put the Stags on the board, and courtesy of the 1-1 score, to eventually send the game into overtime. In the extra session, it merely took DeMatha 86 seconds to generate the winner. A “jail-break” situation developed down the right side of the field and Gielen’s younger brother Justin was able to convert the game winner. DeMatha’s veteran head coach Dafydd Evans noted, “Give credit to Mario Hernandez. He was able to create a high ball for Justin to score.” The Stags have now won seven of the past 13 WCAC Soccer Titles. DeMatha's defense was as solid as could be all evening, with the O’Connell score coming via a 40-yard direct kick. The Stags’ defense was anchored by first-team WCAC defender Marco Torchia and second-team WCAC defender Brook Addisu. The WCAC boys’ first team players included DeMatha’s Marco Torchia, James Gielen and Keegan Meyer; Gonzaga’s Phillip Littleton and Matt McCann; Good Counsel’s Dominic Duncan and St. John’s Kevin Sawyer.