Earlier this week, Cabrini’s men’s soccer won and played in their first Atlantic East Conference (AEC) game this season against Centenary University. Walking away that night with a 5-2 victory, the blue and white laid a nice start to the conference.
Nick Booth, a senior midfielder, lead with two goals followed by another from Nick LoBiondo, a sophomore midfielder, and another from, Nolan Holloway, a sophomore midfielder.
Shooting shot after shot, the Cavaliers wasted no time to secure a lead within moments of the opening whistle. “Every conference game is a battle in itself so any time you can get a win out of one it’s huge for the team,” Booth said. “Our conference being as small as it is makes every game even more important because dropping any points at all could be the difference between you hosting a championship, or traveling to it.”
By winning each game, the team can be that much closer to having a home-field advantage instead of going into someone else’s territory. He mentioned that some of the other teams in their conference can cost a longer travel time. “Some of the teams in our conference are a good two hours away, so if we could spend the whole playoffs at Edith Robb we would love to,” Booth said.
It was an encouraging experience to have won their first conference game. He highlighted feeling relief but knowing that every day is leading up to the conference is further preparation for these games. “I think we looked good and I’m excited for the rest of the season, still a lot of work to do and we’re gonna take it one day at a time,” Booth said.
Cabrini had 13 shots, 13 corners and eight shots on goal. The team kept their momentum up throughout the entire game with their eye on the win.
“It was a great team win with everyone getting involved Tuesday night,” Trent Valle, a freshman forward, said. “As a whole front to back we were clinical all 90 minutes.”
They know it was a good win, even though there will be tougher opponents and competition along the way. “Since day one back in August our goal was to secure the one seed in the conference and this is a good first step,” Valle said.
Cabrini was coming off of back-to-back losses which significantly meant a lot to the team for taking over this game. After a 1-1 draw against Stevenson and a 0-2 loss to Alvernia, this was a well-deserved game.
The game was filled with adrenaline and excitement knowing the Cavaliers secured their first conference win. From here, the blue and white are looking to take another win on Saturday against Gwynedd Mercy.
