Women'ssoccerteam tops Beaver College in doubleovertime

by Brian O'Connell sports editor

It was a classic game. It was Cabrini versus Beaver College. Most importantly, it was a Cabrini win. The Lady Cavs defeated Beaver by a final score of 2-1 in double overtime on a penalty kick by senior captain Erin Barney.

Both teams were playing a physical game, kind of like the Pennsylvania Athletic Conference championship game from a year ago. However, it was Cabrini that came out on top this time.

The first half featured missed opportunities, intense hustle from both teams, and sophomore Jessica Storck giving the Lady Cavs a 1-0 lead which would carry over into the halftime period.

However, what was noticed by everyone was the foul play displayed by Beaver. Attempts to trip and push Cabrini players to the ground failed miserably for Beaver.

" Beaver showed terrible sportsmanship today," senior captain Erin Barney said. " I felt there were some calls that were missed by the refs, but frustration among the players may have set in during the game," head coach Diane Pierangeli said.

Despite holding a 1-0 lead, Cabrini was not playing its best game.

"We did not play well today," junior goalie Jess Huda said. Our goal was to come into the game with the attitude that we would play hard and not have a repeat of last year's PAC championship game."

Pierangeli agreed, "Beaver outplayed us today. We need to work harder offensively."

Pierangeli praised the play of first-year "superstar" Siobhan McGonigle who was a key player in the win.

"Thank god for Siobhan, Pierangeli said. I don't know what we would do without her this year."

The second half picked right up from the first half. Both teams came out battling and playing very physical soccer. However, Beaver College, it seemed to many, was pushing the limits for a fair game.

The lady cavs took advantage of Beaver penalties by maintaining possession of the ball, but failing to score on some key opportunities.

Beaver also had some big opportunities to score, but goalie Jess Huda would not allow any shots by her.

The clock soon read 25 minutes left to go, when the first and last goal for Beaver got past Huda to tie the score at 1-1.

The game would eventually go into overtime, with the same intensity shown by both teams. However, neither team allowed the other to score forcing the game into double overtime.

It was then that a penalty was called on Beaver College, and at the 7: 19 mark of the period, senior captain Erin Barney deposited the winning goal giving the lady cavs a 2-1 victory over the defending PAC champs.

After the game, the team celebrated and surrounded Barney.

On the winning goal, Barney was amazed.

"I saw the ball go in and thought, oh my gosh."

Now the lady cavs can focus on the rest of the season.

"Our goal is to take it game by game to the point where we will reach the PAC championship and win the conference," said Huda.

"We are 6-1 overall and 3-1 in the PAC right now. Our goal is to win the conference and get our first automatic bid to the NCAA tournament," said Pierangeli.