Holy Family Wins in a Thriller

-By Brian Morlock, 10/15/2003

It was a cold windy day as the Holy Family women's soccer team took the field for warm ups before their big game against Goldey Beacom. For the seniors, it was the last regular season home game they will ever play. Before the game started, they each took roses to their mothers. It was a nice little ceremony as the girls hugged their mothers.

Coming into the game, Goldey Beacom had a conference record of 5-3-2. They have one of the best defenses in the conference and were going to give the Lady Tigers all they could handle.

In the first half, the Lady Tigers started out dominating as they usually do. The wind was blowing towards their back so they had a huge advantage in the first half. It did not take long for Holy Family to get on the board as Sue Calabrese scores with 35 minutes left in the first half. Sue scored on a nice pass from senior Maria Karasavas. After their first goal, the Lady Tigers continued to pour on pressure. Melissa Gamble and Brianne Redelheim each had excellent opportunities to score goals, but the goaltender for Goldey Beacom stood tall. The halftime score was 1-0 with the Lady Tigers in the lead.

The second half was a complete different story. Goldey Beacom had the wind to their backs and the game started to show how much the wind was a factor. It did not take Goldey long to tie the game. After the game was tied, Goldey continued to put pressure on the Lady Tigers. It was starting to look like the Lady Tigers may suffer their first conference loss of the season. When asked how much the wind was a factor in the game, coach Joe Mikolajewski said, "The wind was a big factor. We should have taken more advantage in the first half." Because Holy Family did not take advantage of their first half chances, they were in a dog fight with a good soccer team.

The Lady Tigers showed why they are the number one team in the conference. Goldey Beacom put constant pressure on Holy Family the whole second half, but Theresa Cirino answers the call and scores a huge goal with 14 minutes left in the game. For the freshmen, that's 6 goals in the last 3 games. She scores the game winner and keeps her team undefeated in conference play. Goldey Beacom gave the Tigers a test, but Holy Family proved their toughness. Coach Mikolajewski said, "Goldey is a good team and always gives us a tough time. When we were only up 1-0 at half, we knew it was going to be a tough game." A tough game it was, but Holy Family continues their domination in conference play.