There is a different crisp in the air when the Cavaliers enter CSAC playoff week. Men’s soccer and women’s field hockey, volleyball and soccer have earned themselves a playoff spot yet again.
Cabrini has a past of excellence in the Colonial States Athletic Conference. The conference records show that in the past five years Cabrini has won 11 championships with their fall sports. Women’s soccer is playing in hopes of a sixth consecutive title and the volleyball team is looking to make it four in a row.
Men’s soccer finished this year’s regular season with a 10-6-1 record. The CSAC standings have the Cavaliers in third place finishing with a 7-2 conference record.
“With the talent we have on our team, if we show up and focus on our game we will be very happy come Saturday,” senior soccer play Bobby Kane said. Kane is the second leading scorer with seven goals and one assist in the regular season.
A.J. Bishop is the top goal scorer for the Cavaliers with 14 goals and six assists. The team also has a matchmaking expert in Ben Roda, who leads the team in assists with eight.
“The conference has been all over the place in terms of results this year,” head coach Rob Dallas said. “We need to stay focused and bring our best effort to the field each day to achieve the goals we are striving for as a team.”
Post-season play will begin for the guys on Tuesday, Nov. 1 at 7 p.m. They will host the Gwynedd-Mercy Griffins, whom they beat 3-0 earlier this year.
The women’s field hockey team, led by senior Taylor Mack (17G, 12A), finished the regular season 10-7 overall and 6-1 in conference play.
Junior Maddy Worley joins Mack as the team’s second highest goal scorer with 15 goals paired with one assist. With eight goals and eight assists, junior Jackie Neary will also have eyes on her in the tournament.
“Marywood is going to come out hungry,” junior Jess Tennett said. “We have to play the game we know how to play and remain the team that everyone hates.”
As the second seed in the conference rankings, the girls will play the Marywood Pacers at Edith Robb Dixon field on Wednesday, Nov. 2 at 4:30 p.m. In their last meeting, Cabrini topped Marywood 3-1.
Senior Kelly Guarino hopes to bring the women’s volleyball team back to championship play after finishing with a perfect 11-0 record in-conference after finishing out-of-conference play 5-14. The volleyball team is the only fall team to finish in first.
“We’re all motivated to win our semi-final game on Thursday,” Guarino said. ” We will hopefully claim our fourth consecutive championship along with 50th consecutive conference win along the way.”
Junior Anne-Marie Jones leads the squad with 301 kills followed by sophomore Emily Shannon (242K), Guarino (230K) and junior Chelsea Jones (139K). Guarino leads the team in digs with 431. Joining Guarino is sophomore Ashley Shannon with 378 digs.
The ladies wait for the results of the upcoming quarter-final match ups taking place on Tuesday, Nov. 1. Cabrini will host the lowest remaining seed on Thursday, Nov. 3 in the Nerney Field House.
The Cabrini women’s soccer team looks to claim their sixth consecutive conference championship this year. The squad has a defensive powerhouse made up of senior first team all-conference Jess Breuning, freshman all-conference honorable mention Maddy Wojton and junior first team all-conference and 2016 conference defensive player of the year Gabby Legendre.
Junior Kelsee Tironi received 1st-team honors and senior Allie Vallen was named to the 2016 sportsmanship team.
The ladies finished the regular season overall 10-6-1 and 9-1-1 in-conference claiming the second seed. “We’re excited to be at home and are just ready to get back on the field and we are going to do this as a team,” Legendre said.
Junior Taylor Tralie leads the offense with seven goals and two assists. Tralie is followed by freshmen Katelyn Gilinger with five goals and two assists.
The women’s soccer team will host the Centenary Cyclones in a semi-final matchup on Wednesday, Nov. 2 at 7 p.m.
All CSAC championships will be played on Saturday, Nov. 5.
