Though some are ‘crying on the inside,’ Cabrini athletes finishing their business

RADNOR — Goodbyes never really appealed to the diehards playing out this final season of athletics at hallowed Cabrini University, which in a couple of months will turn into Villanova West.

To many, including the opposition, it’s unfathomable that Cabrini and its proven sports programs no longer will be on the schedule.

Five years ago, Cabrini was on top of the Division III sports world, the men’s lacrosse team winning the NCAA national championship at Lincoln Financial Field against an opponent in Amherst with twice the enrollment.

Around the end of June, the Villanova signs will start popping up on campus as the tiny college and its scenic grounds were purchased by its nearby neighbor. The clock is running on the Cabrini men’s and women’s lacrosse and baseball teams, which were all in business entering the weekend tournament scene. The campus, described as “a ghost town” by one student-athlete, several students and athletes having already left, the point of no return is looming larger than ever before.

“It’s kind of like one nun here at Cabrini said, ‘We’re smiling on the outside, crying on the inside,’” said Jackie Neary, who has coached women’s lacrosse and field hockey in 28 years at Cabrini. “That’s what we’re doing. You’re trying to be very stoic and it’s hard, it’s tough. During my long walk today, going through my head was how are we going to manage the emotions of our girls this weekend? Every year you’re either going to win or it’s the end, one or the other. I just want to make sure that there’s not too much weight put on the end this time. We talked about the elephant in the room. Now the elephant is bigger than the room. So that’s going to be one of my big coaching talks. I just want them to be prepared. I want them to take a deep breath. I do this every year but this year there’s just so much more weight to it.”

The ultimate competitor and healer, to listen to her players, Neary dabbed her eyes with a tissue while being interviewed.

The Dear John letter Cabrini students received last June in the form of an announcement that the place was being sold to Villanova and the severance package, should they accept it, basically would be one more year of school/athletics or a transfer. It was something few 18-, 19-, 20- or 21-year-olds are equipped to deal with. The career guidance offered by Cabrini administrators, coaches and staff helped many get through it.

What was quietly spectacular was so many Cabrini student-athletes fought through basically a suspended sentence with their coaches, who fought through feelings they’d never felt. I stayed, is the way athletes and coached put it, for one last go-round.

Make no mistake, for the student-athletes, the announcement was a sucker punch. Athletes don’t transfer these days without the leverage of a guaranteed role or an NIL, both unlikely for students in this situation.

“We found out Friday and we had a meeting that day,” said junior midfielder and Garnet Valley alum Morgan McClintock. “I think everyone was at that meeting, and that meeting was really emotional. I remember being there and thinking, ‘Oh my God, this is actually happening.’ I was so angry. I was frustrated. So, I made my decision to stay. And I really don’t think I would have changed it for anything just because this has been really special. These girls are my best friends. My sisters.”

Shea Neary remembered the mini-town hall meeting being full of student-athletes, coaches and assorted adults.

“Some very angry and would show it, others just upset or crying or yelling,” Shea said. “There were just so many questions. My Mom said, ‘Look, I’m staying here.’ And I think that shows her character. She also opened that door of, ‘…and I’m here to help you no matter what. I’m here to help you go somewhere if you want.’ I don’t think many coaches have that in them to say, ‘look, it’s your decision.’ Selfishly, coaches want you to stay. So, for her to say that I’m going to help you no matter what, I think that’s huge and that shows who she is as a person.”

Shea was staying of course, having experienced the aura of a mother who grew into an All-American in field hockey at Ridley High and Temple. Other coaches in other sports at Cabrini stepped up and showed their character as well.

Cabrini men’s lacrosse coach Tommy DeLuca, an All-American who starred on the title team and the most decorated defender in the history of the program, offered a slightly different take on continuing the athletics mission.

“I think on paper it probably wasn’t the right decision for any of us to come back, me included,” DeLuca said. “You’re coming back to a place that’s closing, right? Why wouldn’t you go to another school where you can play or coach for more than one year and you can all graduate from, or me have a sustained job and career? But it wasn’t about what was right. It was about what was right to us. It wasn’t what made sense on paper. It was what made sense to us. And we knew that we had to send this out the right way.”

With a mix of veterans and younger players, the Cavaliers won another Atlantic East Conference championship this season. With DeLuca, the players believe.

“I could have gone somewhere else but staying here, playing with my friends, there’s nothing better than that,” said sophomore middie Brett Gougler of Springfield. “The place was packed last week for the conference championship. They came to see us for one last time. They all rushed the field, and it was really awesome. We want to finish out, win the national championship. We’ve been working hard to get here. It would be a crazy story.”

The baseball team set a school record for conference victories with a 14-4 league season despite lower than usual numbers. That’s only part of what the players will remember.

“I would say that there’s been a lot of ups and downs this year,” pitcher Hunter Kraiza, a Haverford High grad, said. “There’s definitely hardships we went through dealing with less guys than usual. We’re used to having 40-plus guys and now we only have 20. It definitely wears on your body. But I mean, it definitely has brought us all closer together. We’ve battled together. I hang out with these guys all the time. The news was upsetting at first, but it is exciting now. We get to be the last team for Cabrini baseball.”

Nick Weisheipl, the only coach in the eight-year existence of the Cabrini baseball program and a baseball lifer, says he’s never enjoyed a season like this one.

“It’s their team and they’ve taken ownership of what we do and how we do it,” Weisheipl said. “That’s a sign of a good program, that ownership within the ranks. What happened was beyond our control, so I never took the time to be mad, because it wasn’t going to change anything. All I did was change the lens on how to view it and enjoy the people that chose to stay and the two new guys that chose to come and be a part of it, and the assistant coaches who have been a part of it since the program has been alive.”

Catcher Christian Strickland of Garnet Valley applauded Weisheipl for showing “bravery” throughout the tumultuous news of a looming shutdown, and, in so doing, helping him develop as a man.

“He took care of everything,” Strickland said. “He helped everyone. When you look at it, there’s not as many guys now, but at the same time we got almost our whole lineup back. All of our key pitchers came back. I think it’s put kind of a chip on our shoulder and kind of helped us almost work a little harder and play a little harder.”

There’s been a lot of talk about how Cabrini could have possibly gotten into so much financial hardship that the board felt it best to sell. The school enrollment dropped; the participation numbers in sports always had been solid. Two years ago, Cabrini’s president stepped down. Nine months later reports surfaced they were looking for partnerships due to financial trouble.

John Dzik, the winningest coach in the history of Cabrini, having guided the basketball program to 483 victories and 16 conference championships, also was an athletic director there before stepping away. He believes there are at least two major unanswered questions.

“It’s just so bad to see Cabrini go down the drain,” Dzik said. “From my perspective I really felt like the administration did not give the alumni the real story about finances and then say, ‘do you want to do anything to try and save your school?’ The alumni never really had a chance. They were broadsided by the fact that the school was going to close their doors by the end of May.

“Our big concern now is what’s going to happen to all the athletic memorabilia? The banners and plaques and trophies, what’s going to happen? Nobody has that answer yet. That’s also a concern of our athletic alums, our ex-coaches, anybody involved in athletics. What happens to the history that we made? We’re hoping that Villanova is going to respect that and say ‘Hey, when we’re ready to make this an all-Villanova place, take your stuff with you.’ And if they don’t, we’re going to take our stuff with us anyway … In an amicable fashion.”

For administrators, coaches, students and student athletes, it’s just about time to say goodbye. They don’t get any tougher.

Athletic director Kate Corcoran, a mean basketball player back in the day, used to get away from the craziness of the lame duck year by hitting the school’s gym. Even that got dicey.

“You try to reset your mind,” Corcoran said. “But then you walk into our gym, and you look around at the success that you’ve had. We have championship banners, tournament banners hanging. You walk in there and you realize what’s being dismantled and how special of a place this was and the experiences that you’ve been able to provide to student athletes for decades. I don’t even know if I’ll be able to come back here.”