Even rain couldn’t wash out women’s soccer from the playoffs.
On Monday, October 31, Neumann University's women’s soccer faced Immaculata University in the Atlantic East First Round.
Although rain was in the forecast, the game began on time and the battle to advance to the semi-finals was on. The crowd was not turned away by the wet weather either. With 200 fans in attendance, the playoff atmosphere was in full effect. Family, friends, faculty, and students all gathered to watch the women’s team play on the Halloween evening.
As the game progressed, the rain became heavier that night, making the turf field significantly slick. But Neumann soccer didn’t seem phased because in the 29th minute of play, defenseman and midfielder Caitlin Llewellyn was able to net the Knights’ first and only goal of the night.
“Scoring in the quarterfinals game was probably one of my favorite parts of this season, especially since the game was at home,” said Llewellyn.
After receiving an incredible pass from Riley Adinolfi from the corner, Llewellyn scored what would be the winning goal to advance the Knights to the second round of playoffs.
“It was so nice to be able to help the team move on to the semifinals, but that wouldn’t be possible without our strong defense stopping many opportunities against our opponent,” Llewellyn added.
And Llewellyn wasn’t done just yet either.
On Wednesday, November 2, women’s soccer faced Cabrini University in the Atlantic East Conference semifinals.
In what was an outstanding neck-and-neck game, it came down to penalty kicks.
Llewellyn’s shot gave the Knights the 4-2 win in penalty kicks, advancing women’s soccer to the Atlantic East Championship.
“Scoring the winning goal against Cabrini in the PK shootout was such a great feeling, but again it wouldn’t be possible without great saves from our goalie Alexis [Navarro] during the PK shootout,” Llewelyn said.
Winning the semifinal game was the first time the Knights had beaten Cabrini since 2013.
“The playoff atmosphere is very exciting and is definitely something that the team looks forward to and works hard for all season,” said Llewelyn.
For final results and season statistics on women’s soccer, head to Neumann Athletics for more information.
Editor’s note: The women’s soccer team lost the Atlantic East title match in a 1-0 heartbreaker against Marywood, but the story of how they got there is worth telling.