The Lady Cavaliers lacrosse team lost to the College of New Jersey Lions by a score of 18-4 on Saturday, March 24, at Edith Robb Dixon Field.
The loss sends the Lady Cavs to a 2-4 record. The Lions came into the game with a 6-1 record and are ranked fourth in the nation. With the tough competition, the idea was to take positives from the game and not reflect on the final score.
“We want to play them,” 16th-year head coach Jackie Nearysaid. “We know it’s going to be a difficult game, we know it’s going to be challenging and it was. However, there were some very good things that came out of it.”
Just over two minutes into the game, the Lions tallied for the first time, getting a goal from junior attack Trenna Hill. Just over ten minutes later, Lions junior midfielder Alex Spark had netted a hat trick.
By the end of the half, the Lions led the Lady Cavs, 14-2, backed by five goals from sophomore midfielder Lauren Pigott and a hat trick from senior attack Sara Keating. Cabrini’s two goals came courtesy of freshman attack/midfielder Sara Carzo.
“Being a freshman, if she can score against [The College of New Jersey], I have high hopes for her as we go deeper into our conference,” Neary said.
Carzo said that this game helps to build confidence moving forward in the schedule and credits the upperclassmen on the team in providing that.
“They definitely help me and cheer me on,” Carzo said. “Everyone just works together and we all respect each other on the field.”
The scoring quieted down in the second half. With a comfortable lead, the Lions worked on running out the clock more than trying to score but did add four second-half goals to their total. Carzo completed a hat trick with 20 minutes remaining in the half, and the scoring concluded with a last-second goal by freshman attack/midfielder Melissa Scanzano.
Cabrini’s goalkeeper, sophomore Janel Folkomer, played in net for the entire game. In facing 31 shots, she made 10 saves, several of them being impressive ones.
“The one big thing I think for our goalkeeper is that she made some incredible saves,” Neary said. “Some of those kids are two or three-time All Americans.”
“The first save I made just got me confident,” Folkomer said. “I just rolled with it from there and had fun.”
For a non-conference game, Neary said the experience is a valuable one in moving forward during the season.
“That’s why I try to play Rowan, the College of New Jersey and Ursinus,” Neary said. “Those three teams come from different conferences so it’s a different looks.”
Despite a lopsided score, the goal of this game was to take the positives out of it. As the team moves on to play more conference games in future weeks, the Lady Cavs hope this is a game that made them a better team.
“We have to take a very objective look at the game,” Neary said. “I know it makes our kids better. I know this game will help us a couple weeks from now.”
