Memorable season ends for Bishops girls lacrosse team
It’s never easy to replace a legend, but first-year Bishop England High School girls’ lacrosse coach Billy Bitter passed the test.
Bitter took over a program built by Jeff Weiner and produced impressive results. The Bishops posted a 12-7 record this spring, including three solid victories in the Class AAAA playoffs.
But the memorable season came to an end when Oceanside Collegiate posted a 13-8 decision over the Bishops in the state championship match at Irmo High School.
It wasn’t a case of déjà vu, but it was close. The Landsharks defeated the Bishops 12-8 in last year’s state championship.
It was the Landsharks’ third state title in the last four seasons.
“Our ultimate goal was to win the state championship,” Bitter said. “Oceanside played very well, and it didn’t come out the way we wanted. You could see the disappointment on the girls’ faces.”
The Bishops got their man in Bitter, a 38-year-old native of Manhasset, New York, who replaced Weiner. Weiner posted a 226-36 record over 12 years and guided the Bishops to a record seven state titles.
Bitter was a three-time all-America selection at the University of North Carolina and has coached at the college and high school levels. He began his coaching career as an assistant at Boston College in 2021.
He was the head coach of Cohasset High School in Massachusetts in 2022 and served as Weiner's assistant at BE.
“Overall, I’m proud of this group,” Bitter added. “We played a tough schedule with seven or eight teams out of the area, including New York and the No. 2 team in Massachusetts. Oceanside has always been on our radar. We played them in the regular season, and it was close. They came out and played an excellent, full game and got off to a fast start.”
Oceanside Collegiate defeated the Bishops 12-11 in a regular-season game in March and took a 7-4 lead at the end of the first half of the championship. Freshman Regan Bowers led the Landsharks with four goals.
Natalie Noone led the Bishops with three goals, and Gracie Seymour chipped in with two scores.
The Bishops held their team banquet this week, and the toughest part might have been saying farewell to six seniors: Noone, Jocelyn Moody, Brooke Pennell, Taylor Ayers, Kate Modenhauer, and Tricia Hayes.
“Six seniors, it was an awesome class,” Bitter said. “We let them know we were sorry that we didn’t get the win. I was fortunate enough to coach them.”
The Bishops will begin preparation for the 2027 season on June 1. It should be a talented and interesting roster.
Bitter has four nieces who could be on the Bishop England roster in ’27: Whitney Jellison, Patsy Jellison, Virginia Jellison, and Mimi Bitter. Bitter’s sister, Kristen Bitter Jellison, was the head junior varsity coach this season.