Expectations High for Lady Bears Softball In Final HVIAC Season
BROOKLYN, N.Y. - The St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) softball team embarks upon their 2015 campaign aiming to defend the Hudson Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (HVIAC) Tournament and regular season titles as well as secure their fifth United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) National Championship appearance in the last seven years.
The St. Joseph's softball squad is accustomed to success. In his 13 years at the helm, head coach Frank P. Carbone has suffered only two sub-.500 seasons. The 2014 Lady Bears were victors in eight of their last nine to finish 17-16. They capped off the season with a dominant performance in the HVIAC Tournament, outscoring New Rochelle and Yeshiva a combined 32-1 en route to their sixth straight title.
For their outstanding performances last season, Cassandra Molinari (Brooklyn, NY/St. Edmund Prep), Kristin Ferrigno (Brooklyn, NY/Bishop Kearney), Samantha Rossi (Bayside, NY/Mary Louis) and Samantha Simon (Brooklyn, NY/Bishop Kearney) were each named to the HVIAC All-Conference Team. Molinari was also named the Association of Division III Independents (AD3I) Co-Player of the Year, while Rossi was tabbed Rookie of the Year and Carbone was chosen as Coach of the Year.
The Lady Bears will open their 2015 campaign up with a road doubleheader against Baruch on March 14 before heading to the Tucson Invitational Games from March 19-21, returning to Tucson, Arizona for the first time since 2010. St. Joseph's will face some stiff competition out west in preparation for the schedule back home. Three of their opponents logged 20-win seasons in 2014—Wisconsin-LaCrosse, Denison, Central (an 2014 NCAA Tournament qualifier who was ranked No. 12 in the 2015 preseason NFCA Coaches' Poll)—and the Lady Bears will also face a Division II squad in Minnesota-Crookston.
St. Joseph's will then return east for a six-game home stand at Padavan-Preller Field, squaring off for a pair of matchups against New Rochelle on March 26 in a rematch of last year's HVIAC semifinal, followed by doubleheaders with Valley Forge and Maine-Presque Isle.
In April, the Lady Bears will meet CUNYAC foes York (N.Y.), Baruch, Lehman, John Jay and Brooklyn, who finished 25-15 last season. Fourteen of St. Joseph's 20 games in April will be road contests. Highlighting the home slate in April is a twinbill against future Skyline Conference rivals Mount Saint Vincent on April 14 and a doubleheader against long-time USCAA rivals Briarcliffe (N.Y.) on the 26th.
St. Joseph's will close their regular season schedule on May 2 with the "East vs. West" matchup against sister campus rivals St. Joseph's (L.I.), who they will also face in the Skyline Conference next season. The Lady Bears will be seeking redemption, suffering a double-header sweep in their last meeting on May 2, 2013.
After outscoring opponents a remarkable 97-10 in their last nine contests last season and claiming the HVIAC Tournament and regular season titles, expectations are sky-high for the 2015 Lady Bears softball team, who will look to win their seventh straight HVIAC tournament title, in their final season in the conference, and return to Akron, Ohio for the USCAA National Championships.
2015 Lady Bears Softball Schedule