Men's soccer fired up for PAC playoffs

by Kendra Clark staff writer

Who knew what teamwork could do? Cabrini's men's soccer team found out and now they are headed to the playoffs. On Nov. 3, they will start their quest for the coveted Pennsylvania Athletic Conference title despite early season struggles and minimal fan attendance.

The start of the men's 1999 season brought signs of struggle and doubts for a playoff berth. But, as the season progressed they learned the meaning of teamwork and the knowledge had paid off. With an impressive record of 8-3 as of Oct. 14, the team is ready to go. When asked to re- fleet of the season, sophomore midfielder Andy Zayas talked about the team's struggles at the beginning of the season and how the players turned around and started to play as a team. There is some uncertainty as to when the team decided to come together. James DeLuisi, midfielder, believes that it was the Eastern shutout with the score of 2-0 that brought the team together, but Eric Lukach, Goalie, believes that it was the Beaver game that brought the team together. They both feel though that the important thing is that they came together and they have a berth in the playoffs.

When looking ahead to the playoffs the team is excited. Zayas and DeLuisi want to go into the first game with the same con- cept of teamwork that has brought them success already and think of the playoffs as "just another game." "With hard work and practice we should do fine," Lukach said.

One answer that is certain is that they all have very high regards for their coach, Doug Meder. " He is a great motivator and he is always their to pump us up before games," Lukach said. Zayas feels that at first Meder was hard, but now as the season is winding down he is good for the team and pushes them to do their best, which has resulted in the success of the team.

One change that the team would like to see is more fans coming to support them. Right now they have minimal attendance and they would like to see an increase in the attendance for the playoffs and also for the rest of their three regular season games.

So, with the playoffs just around the cor-.., ner, Cabrini will be seeing their men's team working hard as a team, not as individuals for the playoffs. They struggled in the beginning, but now have discovered teamwork and put all struggles behind. They look forward to playing and seeing you at the playoffs and are ready to win the PAC championship title for Cabrini.