The Lady Cavs beat Marywood University on Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2-0. They also took on Haverford College on Thursday, Oct. 3, and won 2-1.
In the first half of Tuesday’s game, the Lady Cavs played a strong offensive game with Jody Sodano and Melina Moore all over the field with their skillful maneuvers. Sodano scored a goal 15 minutes into the game when granted a penalty shot. Julie Smith blocked several attempts by Marywood to gain a goal.
In the second half, the Lady Cavs returned with more fight in their stance. The crowd cheered Smith on when she almost knocked out a Marywood player. Marywood was so tired and frustrated from the lack of teamwork that they turned violent on each other. The Lady Cavs Holly Orlando scored the next goal, nearly an hour later with only six minutes left in the game.
Coach Jackie Neary said, “I was pleased to see how they bounced back compared to Saturday. The team struggled in the beginning but they played very well today. Maureen McQuade was outstanding.”
An interesting addition to this year’s women’s field hockey team was freshman Shannon DiCave. She had never played field hockey a day in her life before coming to Cabrini.
“Shannon DiCave was recruited right out of the dorms. She has been essential for us in the past three weeks,” Neary said.
When asked about the performance of the women’s field hockey team, Neary said, “I have no complaints for the preseason.”
The game against the Haverford Fords proved to be an exciting moment for the Lady Cavs.
In the beginning of the first half, Haverford scored a goal; several minutes later, Maureen McQuade, junior co-captain, scored to tie the game at 1-1.
The remaining time during the first half was filled with missed opportunities by both teams, including a missed shot by Haverford with only five minutes left in the first half.
The game went into sudden death overtime and within six minutes, Sodano scored a goal to win the game for the Lady Cavs, 2-1.
“We totally dominated a team in a better conference,” Stephanie Heinz, junior, said. “We had 15 minutes of sudden death, and it only took us six minutes. We were down a goal and usually we stay that way, but this time we fought back.”
The Lady Cavs are notoriously known as a one-half team, meaning they usually play strong in only one-half of the game. After playing well during this entire game, they now realize they have the potential to play strong against every team from now on.
