For this week’s “Ask Me Anything” video, our respondents took their truth serum and answered the question of “Who is the best athlete in your family?”
By: Mark Zimmaro
Archbishop Wood's Strybuc leaves big shoes to fill
PHILADELPHIA - These days, Tori Strybuc is just dancing on air.
The Archbishop Wood senior has a strong and sturdy background of competitive dance dating back about 15 years. Just three years ago, she learned how to play field hockey. And what a journey it’s been.
High school presented a new challenge as Strybuc lugged zero experience with her into freshman year tryouts. Three years later, she’s co-captain of a very successful program.
Archbishop Wood's Tori Strybuc shields the ball from a Bonner & Prendie defender. Photo by Mark Zimmaro
“I picked up a stick going into my freshman year,” Strybuc said. “This is my fourth year and I only play here. I’ll play winter and spring league with Wood but I’ve only played here.”
Strybuc learned under former coach Jennifer Konow and current coach Katie McGowan, who took over last year. Wood has several players that also had no formal field hockey training before joining the team, but certain strategies and tips have been handed down. Strybuc credits her lightning-fast defensive pursuit on penalty corners to 2023 graduate Angela Cavallaro, who is now playing at the University of Scranton.
“We’re good at defending corners,” Strybuc said. “I don’t know what it is. I’ve flown for the past three years and I learned my freshman year from watching Ang Cavallaro. It’s also no small part to our goalie Savanna Vinyard. Even if it gets past me, I know she will make the save.”
Wood’s senior class, which includes Strybuc, Vinyard, Chloe Casper, Keely Waters and Charlotte Weisberger, has been an enormous part of the Vikings’ success over the past four years. And on Monday, Wood won its first PCL playoff game in four years as the Vikings defeated Bonner & Prendie, 3-0.
“This feels amazing,” Strybuc said after the big win. “I’ve played in the playoffs every year since freshman year and this is huge. I’m so proud of this team. I can’t put into words how happy I am that it actually happened this year.”
Strybuc and her teammates were able to celebrate and dance on their home field before heading off to take on defending PCL champ Archbishop Carroll on Wednesday. Strybuc is pretty comfortable starting the conga line. She’s excelled in competitive dance since she was 3, and has been featured in music videos and parades for her work with Dance Art Conservatory in Huntingdon Valley.
Her arsenal of dance styles is deep, as she’s a whiz in jazz, contemporary, hip hop, musical theater, ballet and modern. The list goes on.
“I really do it all,” she said. “We learn how to do everything. I’ve learned how to ballroom dance and everything like that.”
Archbishop Wood's Tori Strybuc controls the ball in a game against Bonner & Prendie. Photo by Mark Zimmaro
She’s probably really fun at parties too.
“My move to pull out is to spin or balance on my head or do the coffee grinder or something like that,” Strybuc said with a laugh.
All kidding aside, Strybuc and her fellow seniors have made a gigantic impact on the future of a program that’s looking to make that next jump. It started with creating a culture.
“I think we just mean so much to each other,” Strybuc said. “You can hear them all being ridiculous in the background behind me. I love it here. I think we’ve made it a better place for the girls coming behind us. At times it can be stressful but I think this year, we kept it pretty fun and happy the entire time.”
Peppering Pandas: Wood holds off Bonner & Prendie in PCL quarterfinal
Despite the 3-0 loss, Bonner & Prendie had plenty of jump after the long bus ride to Warminster in the PCL quarterfinal. The Pandas managed four penalty corner opportunities in the first quarter but were held off the board.
After escaping the first quarter, Wood countered. And junior Gianna Moody scored in the first minute of the second quarter to give the Vikings the lead.
Wood blanks Bonner & Prendie
Archbishop Wood defeated Bonner & Prendie 3-0 in the PCL quarterfinals. Photo gallery by Mark Zimmaro
“It was great,” Moody said. “It kind of set us off in a good mood. We kind of just came out here today with good vibes and good energy and the goal just made us even more ready and pumped up to win.”
The Vikings took that 1-0 lead into halftime after the Pandas couldn’t find the equalizer. Then, senior Keely Waters struck in the first minute of the third quarter to double the lead.
“That definitely gave us some confidence,” Water said. “We were on the scoreboard so they couldn’t tie us with a goal. It really pumped up the energy and we wanted even more.”
More came just a few minutes later as sophomore Mary Newman provided the important insurance goal with 9:32 left in the third quarter.
“Honestly I thought someone else scored it but I felt really relieved because it was 3-0,” Newman said. “I knew we just needed to hold them off at that point.”
Bonner & Prendie made another push and were even awarded a penalty stroke in the chaos after senior defender Charlotte Weisberger somehow kept the ball out of the net with an empty cage behind her. The ensuing penalty stroke sailed wide and Wood could sense a victory.
“This is the right team for us to have that win for,” Waters said. “All of our seniors have worked so hard all four years together and I feel like we’re finally clicking.”
Gianna Moody
Keely Waters
Mary Newman
The Final Countdown: Carroll and O'Hara to clash in PCL final
Familiar foes Archbishop Carroll and Cardinal O’Hara will meet once again in the PCL championship on Saturday at 5 p.m. at Neumann University. Carroll has won the last four PCL championships and will make its ninth straight appearance in the title match.
The Patriots stroll into the PCL final having beaten their last 24 divisional opponents, dating back to a 3-2 regular season loss to O’Hara on Oct. 6, 2023. After beating Archbishop Wood, 2-0, in the regular season finale, the Patriots flexed their muscle with a 7-2 win over those same Vikings five days later in the semifinal round of the playoffs.
Cardinal O’Hara reaches the championship game for the sixth time since 2018. Aside from a pause in 2020 due to the pandemic, last season snapped a streak of five straight trips to the championship game. The Lions have lost their last three championship games — all to Carroll — and last won it all in 2019 with a 3-2 overtime victory over the Patriots.
The 2025 Lions have proved over and over that they can win a tight game as they defeated Archbishop Wood, Bonner & Prendie and Lansdale Catholic in one goal games during the regular season.
That experience came in handy in the semifinal round as O’Hara pulled out a 2-1 overtime victory over Lansdale Catholic. After the Crusaders led 1-0, Anna McManus scored the equalizer on a pass from Laine Russo to send the game into OT.
Kylie Donnelly then provided the heroics in sudden death on an assist from Raquel Connolly to send the Lions to Neumann University.
Almost There....Lansdale Catholic making great strides
Lansdale Catholic came excruciatingly close to becoming the first school not named Carroll, O’Hara or Bonner & Prendie to reach the PCL final in over a decade.
The Crusaders went 4-3 in the regular season and defeated Conwell-Egan, 1-0, in the quarterfinals on a goal by Maeve Mariano. Mariano’s goal provided some payback as Lansdale was knocked out by the Eagles by the same score in the same round of the playoffs a season ago.
Truth Be Told: Who's the best athlete in the family?
For this week’s “Ask Me Anything” video, our respondents took their truth serum and answered the question of “Who is the best athlete in your family?”
This one got interesting as many of our field hockey athletes have siblings that played at the Division 1 level and a few others have dads that were pretty good back in the day. That bum knee kept him from going pro, right?
Archbishop Carroll freshman Scarlett Golden was really put on the spot with this question as her mom — the coach of her team — was a Division 1 athlete at Ohio State. And so was her sister Sienna, who holds the school school record at Carroll.
Who did she pick?
Some of the answers were a little long, so settle in and get comfortable!