Dzik shares memories on Cabrini Day

by Paul Moser sports editor

Athletic Director John Dzik has many fond memories of Cabrini College athletics.

During the "History of Cabrini Sports" workshop on Cabrini Day, memories and memorabilia were shared along with littleknown facts about Dzik's tenure at Cabrini.

Arpong them, countless stories arose of basketball championships and specific basketball games.

After all, Dzik's name is synonymous with Cabrini basketball, which, by the way, is the winningest program ever in Division III.

Despite all the glory, he has had in basketball the past 19 years-both as head coach and as athletic director-Dzik's fondest memory has to do with, of all things, soccer.

The year was 1986 and the soccer team started off the season without a coach.

Dzik stepped in.

Knowing very little of the game but utilizing his coaching skills, he rode along with the team to the Area 10 Finals against Saint Vincent's.

Eastern College played host in place of Cabrini due to the size of Cabrini's soccer field, which was three feet too small to meet NCAA regulations, proving yet again that sports can be broken down into inches.

In front of a crowd-described by Dzik to be made up of "at least 1,000 people"-who made the mass exodus across the street, Cabrini won the game 1-0 on a triple overtime goal by Bobby Meehan to beat the Saint Vincent's team that had knocked them out of the playoffs and had gone to the national championship game the year before.

Stunning St. Vincent's and taking their place to go to nationals in Utah, Cabrini's team was about to make its first ever trip to the nationals.

This brought Dzik to his second fondest memory of Cabrini's sports history: the day he almost resigned.

The day after the soccer game, Dzik was told by Sister Eileen Currie, the president of the col-

Sweaters, lege at the time, to tell his players that they would have to forfeit the tournament because their was no money to send them to the national tournament in Wichita Falls, Tex.

Dzik responded to her that he would not tell his team they could not go and that he would resign if she could not find a way to send the team to Texas by the end of the day.

As luck would have it for Dzik, his hard-lined stance paid off.

Following the threat, the money to make the trip appeared, courtesy of the Dixons,