Growing up in a family as the only girl with three brothers, it’s easy to see how field hockey goalkeeper Caroline McCabe came by her competitive nature on the field, and her playful persona off of it.
“When you’re the only girl in the family, you have to be competitive,” the senior said. “Even now, with two of my brothers in college, everything is still so competitive.”
That sense of competition helped McCabe backstop a young Dodgers squad to 10 shutouts and a record of 17-5, a Top 20 ranking in the state, , and an appearance in the North Jersey sectional quarterfinals.
Her accomplishments in net led Patch readers to overwhelmingly vote her as the .
“Caroline had a fabulous year, she was the backbone of the defense for us,” said Ann Marie Davies, who has coached the Madison varsity for 29 years. “It’s so nice to have a strong goalie. She’s in the top five of all goalies in my career. She has a passion for the sport.”
McCabe didn’t come by her devotion to field hockey at first.
“Watching my brothers, all I wanted to do growing up was to play ice hockey,” the Harding resident said with bemusement. “But, I hated it after one skating lesson.”
McCabe’s interest in hockey shifted from the ice to the turf in fourth grade. She also inherited the lacrosse gene from her mother, Jeane, who played in college, and only gave that up last year to concentrate on field hockey.
“I love it, especially playing goal,” she said. “I love really intense games when the action comes down to the absolute last second or last corner. It’s such an amazing feeling.”
McCabe was named captain in her second year on varsity, and Davies calls her a leader.
“She’s very focused and serious when it comes to playing time, but she also has a silly side, a lightens-up-the-situation type of personality off the field,” said Davies.
That was important for an inexperienced Dodger team looking to find its way. Said McCabe, “We came into the preseason as a young team without a lot of expectations. The first practice was intense and I knew right then what the season was going to be like. Everyone filled big shoes and stepped up, my teammates are fantastic, an amazing group of girls. We always have something going on when we get together, as well as in school. They are an amazing group.”
McCabe credited some of that chemistry to the coaching of Davies and assistant Victoria Sacco. “But, we were also going out there and playing for each other. Just knowing we had to go through all these things together gave us strength.”
Next stop for McCabe is the University of Richmond, where she will be reunited with good friend and former Dodger Chelsea Davies, daughter of the coach, who just completed her sophomore season for the Spiders.
“She is well-deserving, a great asset to the program,” Davies said. “Caroline has worked extremely hard to get where she is.”
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