(Photos by Mark Zimmaro & Lennie Malmgren/ Video by Mark Zimmaro)
BY MARK ZIMMARO
Angela Cavallaro went from student to teacher in just a few years.
The Archbishop Wood senior was the only player on her team that had field hockey experience that extended beyond the high school arena, as she plays club hockey for FSC Falcons.
She had some big moments, scoring clutch goals for the Vikings. She had more important moments teaching her teammates to further strengthen a program.
“I only started playing my freshman year,” said Cavallaro. “So, I know what it feels like to be in that position and I know when I was a freshman, some of the juniors and seniors pushed me to be the best I could be.”
Cavallaro had some extra learning time as she broke her big toe early in her freshman year. She continued to show up each day to practice and soak in everything she could from the older players while she rehabbed for about a month.
“I worked and did everything I could at practice,” Cavallaro recalled. “With the injury, obviously I couldn’t play but I would shoot on the goalies and work on my stick skills.”
Once she got on the field her freshman year, there was no looking back.
Archbishop Wood's Angela Cavallaro commends her team's efforts and looks forward to what they can do next season. (video/Mark Zimmaro for PSD)
“When I came back, it really jump started my love for hockey,” Cavallaro said. “Now I really like giving what I know and putting it on other girls so they can feel what I feel."
Not many can feel the accomplishments Cavallaro has collected in her four years at Wood, especially this fall. She has scored enormous goals for the Vikings as they worked their way to the fourth seed in the Philadelphia Catholic League playoffs and hosted a home game. Although the Vikings were defeated, 3-1, by Conwell-Egan, the team left everything on the field and nearly tied the game up on several occasions before the Eagles’ Bailey McCormick sealed the game with a dagger with 12 seconds left.
McCormick had opened the scoring in the first quarter on a nice long feed from Dakota Poland as the Eagles broke free on a failed Vikings penalty corner. McCormick returned the favor in the second quarter as Poland tapped in the second goal of the game.
Down but not out, the Vikings battled back as Dylan Miller finished a successful Wood penalty corner just before the first half expired.
“It was a little bit of a surprise,” Miller said about finding a loose ball in front of the Eagles’ cage. “But we practice that a lot. It was my last PCL game and the same with Angela’s, but we fought to the end.”
Archbishop Wood's Dylan Miller talks about her team's never give up mentality. (video/ Mark Zimmaro for PSD)
Both Cavallaro and Miller ended up receiving first team All-Catholic honors. Joined by teammates Saorla Meenagh, Molly Waltrich and Madysin Woertz, the group of five seniors left their mark on a program that went 5-3 in the tough PCL. It was the best showing for the Vikings since 2018, when they went 6-3 in the division.
“I want to see the team come out next year and play their game and do the best that they can and keep going,” said Cavallaro.
They’ll have to do it without Cavallaro, who won’t be easy to replace on the field or in several of the clubs she attends at school, She’s the secretary of public relations on student council and a member of the National Honors Society, Science National Honors Society and part of the school’s spirit group the Wood Wackies.
“She’s just a well-liked, very coachable kid,” said Wood head coach Jennifer Konow. “She’s probably one of the best kids I’ve had come through the program. She’s going to be hard to replace because she gives her all, all the time. I need 15 of her with that level of commitment and knowledge of the game.”
Conwell-Egan vs, Archbishop Wood. (Game day photos by Mark Zimmaro for PSD)
Some of that knowledge will likely be soaked in by the younger players on the team as Cavallaro will begin her next journey at the University of Scranton playing field hockey while pursuing a degree in kinesiology. She hopes her teachings to the younger players will be relayed even further.
“I want them to go on and teach the underclassmen and show them how good they can be and this is how you can get there,” Cavallaro said.
Eagles Soaring
We mentioned last week that Conwell-Egan qualified for the PCL playoffs for the first time since 2006 but the Eagles figured they’d add to the achievements by winning a road playoff game. Not only did Conwell-Egan avenge a regular season 2-1 overtime loss to Wood, but they handed the Vikings a rare home loss. Wood had been 4-0 on its home grass during the regular season in PCL play.
The goal scorers usually get the headlines, but Conwell-Egan senior goalie Olivia Beishl held the Vikings off the board in the second half with a handful of key saves.
“It was really tense,” Beishl said. “I always feel like it comes down to me, like I’m the one that can mess it up for everybody.”
That didn’t even come close to happening. Beishl was brilliant.
“It feels great to win,” she said. “This was revenge.”
Conwell-Egan vs. Archbishop Wood. (Game Highlights by Mark Zimmaro for PSD)
Speedy Bailey McCormick accounted for two goals and an assist helped punch Conwell-Egan’s ticket to the semifinal where they will meet Archbishop Carroll this afternoon.
“We didn’t know what was going to happen this season,” McCormick said. “We put a lot of work in over the summer with a lot of workouts and right when the season started, we worked and worked and worked and we knew we had big competition this year. We wanted to make Egan proud and put our name on the map.”
Conwell-Egan's Bailey McCormick talks about the benefits of scoring first and working as a team. (video/ Mark Zimmaro for PSD)
Conwell-Egan's Olivia Beishl is estatic about making it to the semifinals, (video/ Mark Zimmaro for PSD)
Panda Pride
Bonner-Prendergast snuck in the PCL playoffs as the sixth seed but was still looking for that signature win of the season after dropping one-goal games to Conwell-Egan, Archbishop Wood and Lansdale Catholic during the regular season. In the quarterfinal round of the playoffs, they finally got one.
The Pandas avenged their loss to Lansdale Catholic with a thrilling playoff victory that ended in a shootout after a 1-1 draw in regulation. The Crusaders had scored first and Krista Faso scored on an assist from Olivia DiBona to send the game into overtime. No winner emerged, so the game went into a shootout.
No problem, right? Wait. What’s a shootout?
“I’m going to be fair and say that we have never practiced penalty shots,” Bonner-Prendie head coach Joanne Dolan said. “We practice strokes because they do get called in a game, but when the game ended, I explained to them what happens in a shootout and it was like a deer in headlights.”
The shootout goes five rounds, and each player has eight seconds to try to score 1-on-1 with the goalie. You can also shoot in rebounds until time expires. Dolan went to her experienced players first to show the younger kids the way. And she relied on her senior goaltender Leah Ewing to keep it close until they figured out what was going on.
“All our kids are sports fans so I asked them if they ever watched the Flyers and watched one of the shootouts,” Dolan said. “It’s the same thing only you have eight seconds to score a goal.”
Bonner-Prendie senior goalie Leah Ewing. (Photo/ Lennie Malmgren for PSD)
Bonner-Prendergast head coach Joanne Dolan instructs team in game vs Archbishop Ryan. (PSD photo by Lennie Malmgren)
Ewing and Lansdale Catholic goalie Katie Herron, who received first team All-Catholic honors, kept it scoreless through the first two rounds. The Crusaders got on the board in the third round as a penalty stroke was called on the attempt after the shooter and goalie collided and Lansdale Catholic cashed in on the penalty. The Pandas answered in the bottom of the frame and both teams scored in the fourth round, making it 2-2 heading into the last round. Ewing made the save on the fifth shooter to give the Pandas a chance.
“She was so calm and I was so proud of her because she really kept her composure,” Dolan said of Ewing.
Next up was senior Leila George, who scored the game-winner and sent the Pandas into a frenzy and into the semifinals.
She was the hero,” Dolan said. “It was bench-clearing excitement.”
After graduating a dozen seniors, Bonner-Prendie had gone 3-5 during the regular season in the PCL this fall and played a tough non-league schedule that resulted in a lot of losses. None of their opponents wanted to throw the Pandas a life preserver as the program has enjoyed a 39-9 overall record in the PCL over the six years prior to this one. It included a perfect 9-0 season in 2017 and a PCL championship. The Pandas were a target on every other team’s scope.
“It’s a kudos to our program,” Dolan said. “When teams are coming at you, that’s what you want. You want these teams to be hoping that they can beat you because of your reputation and because of what you have done in the past few years. We had a target on our back for sure and we wore it well.”
The Pandas used a little bit of underdog mentality and it worked at the most crucial time of the year. They earned a shot against regular season champ Cardinal O’Hara in the semifinals tonight at 6:30 p.m. It’s the tenth straight year the Pandas made it to the PCL semifinal game.
Bonner-Prendergast senior Leila George makes goal in shootout to take the Pandas to the semifinals. (Photo/ Mark Zimmaro for PSD)
Bonner-Prendie went on historic run capturing 2017 PCL Championship (PSD Photo)
Bonner-Prendergast after game win vs. Ryan on 10/5/22. (Photo/ Lennie Malmgren for PSD)
“We knew in August that we were rebuilding,” Dolan said. “We graduated 12 seniors. We had players stepping up and we never changed our philosophy. We played every game to win. But for us, we are now gelling at the right time and we are playing as one at the right time. Everything we’ve worked on since August is coming together at the right time.”