The Cabrini Women’s lacrosse teams regular season may be over, but the cavaliers will stop at nothing to capture the Conference crown.  They finished their season with an overall record of 9-7 and 8-0 in conference play.

Through March the cavaliers struggled and lost more games then they had won. Once April hit it was as if a switch had turned on and the team went 5-2 in that month.

“The season started off a little rough,” Amanda Alexandrowicz, senior exercise science and Health promotion major, said. “We lost to teams that we should have blown away.  We regrouped in April and turned around and had a better month.”

As the season progressed the cavaliers held off their colonial states athletic conference rivals without any issue.  The smallest margin of victory that they won by was by five points against Centenary College.  While the teams largest margin of victory was by 18 points against Rosemont College.

“We were really slacking in the first month of the season ans she worked with us even harder for the rest of the season and it worked,” Alexadrowicz said.

The team looks to their coach Jackie Neary for guidance on the field and off the field and feel that they owe much of their success to their coach.

“Jackie is an inspiration on and off the field,” Julie Bonomo, junior business administration major, said. “She coaches her hear out each and every game, she never gives up on us even when we aren’t playing our best she knows what each and every single one of her players is capable of.”

Bonomo quoted her coach Julie smith saying, “ ‘do what you’re doing, but do it better.’ This pretty much sums up what we ended up doing this April.”

For Bonomo she feels that her first season with the team has been one that she won’t forget.

“Jackie and the girls have been so helpful during the season.” Bonomo said.  “I feel it was the best decision I made at Cabrini, its an experience that I wouldn’t trade for the world.”

The Cabrini women’s lacrosse team is now gearing up for the Colonial States Athletic Conference playoffs starting in May.  Though they are unsure of the team date and time they will be playing, they are preparing for the challenge of winning yet another CSAC championship.

“All of Jackie’s pep talks and 6 a.m. practices have really brought the ream together and focused more on our season and what needs to be done to get the championship,” Alexandrowicz said.

In any sport, a goalie is faced with the pressures of keeping the team together and can sometimes be responsible for an upsetting loss or the thrill of an unexpected victory.  In the case of Cabrini College’s women’s lacrosse goalie, Kate Schmid completes her job with finesse and does her best to succeed in every match.

Schmid, a senior marketing major, has been playing lacrosse since her freshman year at St. Hubert’s high school in Philadelphia.

After her high school graduation, Schmid made the decision to enroll at Cabrini College where she would be playing on the women’s lacrosse team as the starting goalie.

“I chose Cabrini because of Jackie Neary and I wanted to play lacrosse here,” Schmid said.  “There were also a few girls playing on the team who I played with in high school and they also influenced my decision to come here.”

Upon entering Cabrini, Schmid made an immediate impact for the Lady Cavs during her freshman year.  With her outstanding efforts on the field Schmid earned all-conference honors during her first season with the Lady Cavs.

Since first garnering the honors as a rookie, Schmid came back during her sophomore and junior seasons with the same tenacity on the field to earn the accolade again.  In addition to her honors as an athlete, Schmid was also named to the Colonial States Athletic Conference spring 2009 All-Academic Team.

“Playing with ‘Schma’ is the best experience in my 13 years of playing lacrosse,” Amanda Alexandrowicz, senior attack, said.  “She is by far the best goalie that I have ever played with.”

During the 2009 season alone, Schmid led the Lady Cavs in saves with 185 and she started in all 17 games. In addition to being a strong player, Schmid is also the captain of the team for the 2010 season for the second consecutive year.

“My teammates and I voted her junior captain last year so that shows that we all think very highly of her,” Alexandrowicz said.

“As a senior captain, I have to take responsibility of leading the team and making sure that everyone is on the same page,” Schmid said. “It’s really good to have three other captains along with me so we can keep the team together and work hard.”

During the 2009 season, Schmid helped to lead the Lady Cavs to their first CSAC title since the 2005 season.

“We’re very focused on having a successful season and putting in the time and effort it takes to get back to the championship this year,” Schmid said.

So far throughout this 2010 season, Schmid has helped the Lady Cavs to win two of their first four games.  In a match up against the University of Scranton, the Lady Cavs won 13-12 with Schmid having a total of 18 saves.  In the season so far, Schmid has a total of 35 saves.

“Schmid is a great goalie,” Jacky McDermott, junior attack, said.  “She works hard at every practice and game and she is always giving 100 percent.”

With Schmid in goal, the Lady Cavs are confident that they can make it back to the CSAC championship this year along with the hard work and dedication of everyone else on the team.

“Last year when we won the CSAC, we all ran towards the goal and jumped on ‘Schma,’” Alexandrowicz said.  “It was the best moment we had as a team, we finally won the championship and we had ‘Schma’ to thank the most for that.”