The Cabrini College men’s soccer team defeated Gwynedd-Mercy at the Edith Robb Dixon Field in quarterfinals of the Colonial States Athletic Conference (CSAC) playoffs on Wednesday, Nov. 2 with a score of 2-1.
Cabrini’s match against Gwynedd-Mercy was one that was set up for a dramatic finish. In the Cavs last battle with the Griffins, Cabrini won 2-1 in double overtime.
“Last time we played them we won in overtime,” Taylor Scarpino, freshman midfielder, said. “If we come out with the same intensity that we had, we will win on Saturday.”
Cabrini came out aggressive early in the match while attempting many shots on goal early in the period. Jim Mattock, junior back, took a shot on goal in the first minutes of the game but just missed by shooting slightly over the crossbar of the goal.
At minute 36:41, Gwynedd-Mercy’s Christian Pembroke scored the first goal of the game on a free kick.
Halfway through the first period, the Cavs had three shots on goal but were unsuccessful in every attempt including an athletic play by Troy Allen who missed the goal just slightly to the right.
In the final minutes of the first half Eric Nowicki, freshman goalkeeper, made an important save against the Griffins Dan Panepresso securing a half time score of 1-0.
“The first half could have been better for us,” Kyle Johnson, junior back, said. “It was very frustrating.”
The second half began with Cabrini keeping the ball down field in scoring position but unfortunately for the Cavs, they could not make anything happen.
In playing heated defense, Cabrini’s own Gabe Kuhn fell to the ground clenching his back as the referees did not stop the clock and let the game continue on. Freshman forward Ryan Cerrato replaced him as the Cavs went on to try to even the score. Uninjured, Kuhn later returned to the game.
At minute 23:20, on a free kick, Johnson put a shot in the box and sophomore midfielder Ryan Juhring headed the ball in dramatic fashion into the goal tying the score 1-1.
“That was huge for us,” Johnson said. “Momentum is what we needed and with that goal we got it. We were cruising after that.”
With 17 minutes left to play, Collins and freshman midfielder C.J. Doherty were the ultimate team. They entered into a give and go resulting in Collins scoring a goal and Doherty claiming the assist, which put Cabrini up 2-1 in the game.
“The goal was pure filth,” Pat Rooney, freshman undeclared major and spectator, said. “That was the best play I have seen the Cavs do all year.”
With that final goal Cabrini secured their spot in the CSAC semifinals, which will be played on Nov. 4th against Marywood University.
“We plan on winning the championship at Neumann,” Collins said.
