There is nothing in sports like a good old-fashion rivalry game. The tension picks up along with the intensity, the electricity can be felt in the air. Being that Cabrini is in the CSAC conference, they have 11 teams that stand in their way of their ultimate goal of a championship.
The history of the first CSAC conference championship goes back to 1992 when the conference was then known as the Pennsylvania Athletic Conference or PAC. Cabrini were the winners of several inaugural championships, including men’s and women’s cross country, men’s and women’s basketball, men’s tennis and women’s soccer. To date, Cabrini has 108 CSAC championships to its name. There is no doubt that the conference championship is the standard for most coaches at Cabrini University. To get there starts with handling business against their rivalries.
“Rival games give us extra motivation, but of course, every game is important but it gives us that extra boost like we have to win the game,” sophomore softball player Taylor Franchville said. “There is never trash talk. We are very respectful. We hype each other up of course, but we are always respectful towards our team and the opposing team.
“We have great sportsmanship, on and off the field, but my favorite rivalry game has to be when Neumann in the CSAC championships. Whenever we play Neumann, it is always a big deal because they are one of our biggest rivalries,” Franchville said.
In 2015 the softball team made it to CSAC’s. They competed against one of their top rivalries, Neumann University. In CSAC play last season, Neumann had a record of 21-3, while Cabrini had a record of 19-3. Facing each other in the CSAC’s, Neumann won with a 9-4 victory. Cavalier’s softball ended up being placed second when it came to the CSAC championship. Neumann won the championship last year, while Cabrini’s last championship win was in 2004.
“No, rivalry games do not give me extra motivation because every game is the same and is just as important,”junior basketball player Deryl Bagwell said. “I have played a friend that was on the competing team, which was Rosemont, but I did not care because he was not my teammate anymore.”
“The bigger games are my favorite to play in, such as Gwynedd and Neumann; I love the Neumann games. Tournament games are always my favorite because we know nothing about the other team so that is always fun,” Bagwell said.
Cabrini’s basketball team went into the CSAC tournament last season and went up against Immaculata. Once the Cavaliers defeated them, Cabrini moved on to the semifinals to compete against Neumann, one of their top rivalries. They lost by one point with a score of 76-75. Gwynedd Mercy won the CSAC 2015-2016 championship. Since the 1992-1993 season, Cabrini has won the CSAC championship 13 times with Gwynedd Mercy coming in second with five championship wins.
The Cavalier’s women’s soccer team made it to CSAC’s this season, but they lost their five season CSAC championship winning streak to the Centenary Cyclones with a score of 3-0 in the tournament’s semi-final. They ended the season with a 10-7-1 record. Marywood won the 2016 CSAC championship for women’s soccer this year with the runner up being the Centenary Cyclones.
“Rivalry games does give the team extra motivation, but they should be working hard all the time,”Jess Huda, assistant coach for Cabrini’s women soccer team, said. “We prepare and train the same way for any game, even for CSAC games, because being a Cabrini team, you know the other team wants to beat you even more.”
“The players know what’s at stake and they know that certain teams are more of a rivalry than others, so going into it, they know it’s coming and they are ready to go,” Huda said.
On Nov. 12, Cabrini’s field hockey team competed against one of their biggest rivalries, Gwynedd Mercy, in the CSAC championship and they defeated them, with the score being 2-1 Cavaliers. The field hockey team has won the CSAC championship in 2009, 2010, 2015 and 2016
“Our biggest rival this year was Gwynedd Mercy University. Last year, we beat them in the championship game, so in our regular season game this year, it was a big one,” sophomore field hockey player Erin Anzideo said. “Our team was very motivated to play in this game because we wanted to keep the title as champions.”
“Gwynedd, Immaculata and Neumann were three of our toughest games that are also our rivalries. Those games are intense and a good battle to play, which makes them my favorite games to play in,” Anzideo said.
