Marcel Bassett
The field hockey team played well enough this year to advance to the quarterfinals of the Pennsylvania Athletic Conference where they beat Misericordia 2-1. The game was played on the Misericordia Cougars home field in Dallas, Pa. on Oct. 20.
The field hockey team was faced with a challenge. They had previously lost to the Misericordia Cougars earlier in the season by a score of 4-1. They had to overcome the bumps and bruises that they felt from the long season and put forth a great effort to advance any further in the PAC playoffs. They also had to put the defeat that they suffered earlier in the season to Misericordia behind them.
Cabrini had previously lost to Misericordia earlier this season and were seeking revenge. Cabrini ranked 6 in the PAC, surprised Misericordia, who was favored to win and seeded 3, by scoring the first goal of the game. Nicole Schultz was able to put the first goal by Misericordia’s goalie after receiving a pass from Maureen McQuade.
Annmarie Smith said, “It seems that when we score in the first half that we play with more confidence in ourselves and our teammates, which usually will lead to a victory.”
However, the Cougars would strike back when Megan Lenig of Misericordia scored to tie the game at 1-1. She was assisted by Kim Daniel with 14:32 left to play in the second half.
The starting right wing for Cabrini, Sara Righter said, “The goal that Misericordia scored didn’t ruin our confidence and we still played believing that we could win.”
The Cavaliers would respond and deliver the final goal of the game with 4:32 remaining in the second half. Carolyn Katkowski slammed home the game-winning goal to defeat the Cougars and advance to the semifinals. In the semifinals Cabrini will face off against an undefeated Eastern team.
The team had to face a strong opposition without help with some of its players. Lauren Calamai and Melissa McDonough could not play in the game due to injuries that sidelined them. However, some players who were injured less severely decided to play in the game through their pain. Jodi Sodano had problems during the game with shin splints that she needed to ice and tape down to remain in the game. First-year student Julie Smith was not expected to play due to a sprained ankle in last Thursday’s game, but she did and played well hurt.
“It was a great day to play, we needed to play the whole game with everything that we could in order to win and we did” Annmarie Smith said. “We will have a tough challenge against Eastern but it was important to get past Misericordia first.”
