Cabrini men’s soccer opened up their first game in over 600 days on September second with a two-to-one victory over Haverford college. Haverford struck first and early in the 14th minute putting them ahead. Cabrini did not answer that goal until the 76th minute putting them even once again.
Cabrini’s first goal was scored by Dakota Bower with an assist by Nick LoBiondo. Cabrini did not have to wait long for their second and eventual game-winning goal to come either. The assist man, Nick LoBiondo found the back of the net in the 83rd minute to put the Cavaliers up for the first and only time.
Cabrini faced Delaware Valley University walking away with a three to zero win keeping the Cavaliers undefeated in the young season. Cabrini’s goal scorers were Christian Rafter in the 39th minute, Matt Duffy in the 46th minute and finally and Nick LoBiondo who notched his second goal of the season in the 57th minute.
Looking ahead to the rest of the Cavaliers season, they will face Desales on September seventh at five pm as they look to continue their undefeated season. Desales comes into the game with a losing record trying to right the ship against a Cavaliers team that is hungry and rolling after not playing in over two years.
Before the first game of the season head coach, Rob Dallas said ” I think our program has done a good job of staying hungry going into seasons. I think that excitement is at an all-time high having gone through as much time as we did without having a full season. We have new guys playing in their first college season and the returning guys are probably more excited than ever.”
The Cavaliers were able to get two games in last spring. Both against conference opponents. The first game was against Wesley College, a game the Cavaliers won two to one. The second game being a five to one victory over Immaculata University.
When asked if those two-game last spring would help to go into this fall season Coach Dallas said, ” Yes. I think it helped in the sense that we got to play. Do you know where I think it has paid off the most for us? I would be that we have so many guys who have returned from that group. They spent all year training last year and we were able to put a lot of things into place last year.”
The biggest struggle for programs around the country was getting new players up to speed with the college game while navigating the ever-changing world of COVID-19 restrictions. Luckily soccer being an outdoor sport, there was not much effect on the team’s ability to work out and train to bring the new players up to speed.
Coach Dallas said, ” Fortunately for us this year, it’s not nearly as impactful as it was last year. Getting the guys on the field and getting the guys up to speed with the pace of the college game is something that is always a challenge during preseason camp. The nice thing for us is being an outdoor sport. COVID is not impacting us as much as it could be.”
As the Cavaliers move on through their season with the goal of avenging the heartbreaking conference title loss suffered in 2019, they are also playing with the knowledge that a conference title brings an automatic bid into the NCAA national tournament and a chance to fight for a national title.
