Cardinals Lose to Susquehanna University in Playoff Game

By Neil Kavanaugh

Catholic University Women’s soccer heads into postseason play with a 3-2 victory over Elizabethtown College this past Saturday at Cardinal Stadium. The team secured the third seed in the division.

The scoring started with a Cardinals goal by sophomore Maggie Moorcones to make the game 1-0. The lead did not last, as the Blue Jays answered with a goal of their own less than a minute later. Sophomore Halle Green regained the lead for the Cardinals with a goal from the top of the penalty box in the 12th minute of play, bringing the score to 2-1.

After halftime, junior Grace Boras buried a shot to give the Cardinals a 3-1 lead. The Blue Jays answered with a goal in the 61st minute to come within one, but Catholic shut them down for a 3-2 win. The Cardinals outshot the Blue Jays 21-16 and took more corner kicks, 8-4. Moorcones lead all players with six shots, including her sixth goal of the year.

Freshman midfielder Lily Berhens took heart to the effort the team was showing on the field.

“It was a hard fought game for the whole 90 minutes. Everyone played really well and we were able to finish the game with a 3-2 win against a good team. I’m really proud of my team and I believe we all played as best as we possibly could,” said Behrens.

“We played really well as a team on Saturday. We passed it really well and we won the 50/50 balls,” said Moorcones. “We did really well this season, we are super young with no seniors on the team, which is something we should all be proud of because we can only build on what we have going forward.”

The Cardinals went on to their first playoff game, but fell to Susquehanna University 2-0 on Tuesday. The girls fought hard the entire game but could not manage to get one past the keeper, taking 9 shots compared to Susquehanna’s 13.

“As a team I think that we need to work on our mental game. If we want to make the finals next year we need to focus on our mindset on the field and how it affects our playing,” said Behrens. “If another team scores before us we tend to give up on ourselves and lose hope. We need to work on playing even harder when we’re down and pushing through our disappointment.”

“The only thing to do now is train as hard as we can in the off season to earn a landmark championship next year,” said Moorcones.

The future looks bright for the team, with their entire roster returning next season including top goal scorers Elizabeth Johnson and Grace Boras. They finished the season with a record of 10-4-3 (5-1-1).