The Cabrini men’s soccer team opened up conference play with a 5-2 win over the Centenary College Cyclones, Saturday Oct. 4. This brings the Cavaliers to an overall record of 6-2-2.
Senior forward Mike McDevitt started the scoring early for the Cavaliers by netting a goal five minutes from the start of the game. Junior midfield Evan Hanauer assisted McDevitt on the play.
The Cyclones then responded to McDevitt’s goal by tying up the game 1-1 only a few minutes later.
Less than a minute after Centenary tied the game, McDevitt and Hanauer connected once again to put the Cavaliers up 2-1. This time, McDevitt headed one in off of a corner kick by Hanauer.
Junior midfield Brian Moran would give the Cavs a 3-1 lead before the first half was over, by scoring his first goal of the season. Freshman back Patrick Tobey picked up his first assist this season on the play.
Junior midfield Andrew Jacobs started the scoring in the second half for Cabrini by putting one in off a pass from Moran.
The Cyclones would score their second and final goal of the game just a few minutes after Jacobs.
Hanauer would go ahead and score his third goal of the season and Cabrini’s final goal of the game off of a rebound in front of the net. He credits a lot of the team’s success from playing such a competitive non-league schedule early in the season.
“The non-conference schedule we had really prepared us for what was ahead. The teams we played were some of the best in the country so it kept us on our toes,” political science major Hanauer said.
“We’re working on playing hard as a team and staying focused in all of our games so we don’t let ourselves underestimate teams that may not be the best,” Hanauer said.
Since they lost eight seniors last year, they had to have new and younger players step up and fill some roles.
“Having all the new players allows us for a fresh start. The freshmen have great talent and have pushed everyone to work harder to be a better team,” Hanauer said.
The Cavaliers have seven more conference games before they begin playoffs. Although there are many games to go, the team is staying focused and continuing to work on what they want to accomplish.
“We want to stay on top of our game. We have the goal to win the CSAC and make our first appearance in the NCAA tournament in a while,” Hanauer said.
“But we are taking it one game at a time and not looking ahead,” Hanauer said.
