When a college sports team clinches a berth in the NCAA playoffs, it’s a big deal. When your school’s own basketball team moves on to the Final Four round of the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history, it’s the talk of the school.
Yes, our own Cabrini Cavaliers, after winning the CSAC championship for the third time in four years, have now reeled off four tournament wins and will be heading to Salem, Va., this weekend. With two more wins, the men’s basketball team will be crowned NCAA champions for the first time.
Cabrini’s March Madness experience may not be akin to the experience of Duke University or Syracuse University but it’s still a special accomplishment that deserves recognition. The men’s squad has a record of 30-1 and currently holds a 21-game win streak. However, they’re not the only Cabrini team that has recently taken southeastern Pennsylvania and the CSAC conference by storm.
We at The Loquitur recognize that even though Cabrini has under 1,500 undergraduate students, our athletic teams, in one way, help to define our school. While we will never lose sight of academics or deemphasize the importance of educating our hearts, Cabrini faculty members, alumni, students and parents can truly bond over athletics.
Since the fall semester began, the basketball team’s CSAC title is our school’s third of the 2011-2012 campaign. The women’s soccer team took home the crown with a 1-0 victory over Neumann University on Saturday, Nov. 5, hours before the Neumann Knights also fell to the Lady Cavs’ volleyball team, who earned their third straight CSAC title with a 3-0 win.
Go back to earlier in the year and you’ll see that the women’s tennis team jumped out to an 11-0 mark before falling in the CSAC playoffs. These teams and their accomplishments have helped to put Cabrini on the map as a school with ample talent. Our student-athletes may not be locking down tryouts with professional sports teams but they are giving it their all for the sake of their team and for this school.
As with any school, the student athletes are not alone in this journey. They are accompanied by coaches, mentors, family, friends and fans. First and foremost, they’re students, young adults attending college to figure out what career is their best option for future employment. If they have the time and talent to play a Division III sport, we should applaud them and show them unconditional support.
While the accomplishments of head coach Marcus Kahn’s men’s basketball team are at the forefront of campus news at the moment, the early stages of the men’s lacrosse are worth paying attention to as well. We at The Loquitur remind you that not long ago, one of our very own lacrosse players went above and beyond the standard for Division III athletes.
In four years at Cabrini, Casey Grugan tallied 334 career points and a staggering 206 goals, numbers that enabled him to be drafted by the MLL’s Chicago Machine. Grugan was the first men’s lacrosse player from Cabrini to be drafted by a professional Major League Lacrosse franchise.
While Grugan left behind a legacy that no other Cavalier lacrosse player may come close to reaching, the fact of the matter is that Cabrini has been producing quality student-athletes for decades now. Take a look at the Athletic Hall of Fame inductees and you will find names that include legendary coach John Dzik, men’s soccer star Glen Jaskelewicz and men’s basketball all-time leading scorer Billy Carr.
Our athletes, both current and former, put in time and hard work to hone their skills as much as possible. We will be fully supporting our men’s basketball team this weekend and we hope that you give them your full support as well.
