Can CEC—ever—get past the curse?

Conwell-Egan Catholic senior Rachel Kurtz (L) and junior Julia Schmitz lead the Lady Eagles into action this fall in Fairless Hills./ Photo by Steve Sherman

By Steve Sherman
Sports Editor
Last season--as they always do, Conwell-Egan Catholic (CEC) earned a fourth place finish before making a first round exit in the Philadelphia Catholic League tournament.
The way this season is going, the Lady Eagles might be fortunate to have that kind of outcome to their current campaign. Thus far, CEC has suffered losses at the hands of Lansdale Catholic, Archbishop Wood and Cardinal O’Hara.
While the Eagles lost by a mere goal in a 2-1 battle against the Lions despite out shooting O’Hara 20-10, the others weren’t nearly as close.
“We started off pretty rough but I think we’re going to pick it up by the end of the year,” stated junior co-captain Julia Schmitz.
“We’re just going through some rough patches right now.”
Currently, CEC is struggling to find its footing with the departures of several graduates including 2008 co-captains Katie Helkowski and Sarah Robertson, Faith Anne Scherbaum, Molly Mitchell and Kat Cantwell.
The good news is that the Eagles have been blessed with a trio of freshmen who have infused the lineup with some much-needed energy. The incoming players include backfielder Alyssa Eltz, midfielder Lindsay Briggs and forward Summer Taylor.
“We have help at all three positions so we’re hoping that they help us out this year,” stated Schmitz.
Last Thursday, Sept. 17, Conwell got help from a pair of sophomores when Jenna Richards and Logan Brenker, a player who had been brought up from junior varsity, teamed together in scoring three goals for the Eagles in a 3-1 victory over Little Flower.
Richards got the Eagles on the board in the first half but by the half, LF had locked the sides in a 1-all duel. Brenker broke the tie for the winning goal after the break and Richards tallied an insurance strike.
Two days earlier at home against George School however, the Eagles had a 4-2 edge only to see the Cougars tie it up by the end of regulation before winning the game, 5-4, in overtime.
“We have one of the best teams we’ve ever had--on paper,” stated CEC head coach Andy Adamiewicz. “But we have yet to live up to our expectations.”
“Things finally started to click for us against Little Flower. That’s the first time that we’ve beaten them for as far back as I can remember.”
“Hopefully, we’ll see more of that type of play and less of what we saw against George School.”
Last year, CEC finished 7-8 overall, taking the fourth and final playoff berth before suffering a blowout loss at the hands of Archbishop Ryan in the first round of the playoffs.
But that happens every year. It’s known as the Conwell-Egan curse to anyone that knows anything about girls soccer at CEC.
While it’s been said before, this group says this is the year the curse gets broken.
“We should be able to get past [the curse], stated co-captain Rachel Kurtz. “We have a lot of new freshmen coming up that are pretty good and the team is pretty solid.
“We also have a lot of players who were juniors last year who have come back this year as seniors and are stepping up.”
In addition to Kurtz, the Eagles’ seniors include Kelly Mott and Theresa Horn, midfielders Jackie Calkins, and Ashley Pope, forward Jess Wallick and backfielder Lauren Murtha.
Six players make up the junior class including Schmitz, midfielder Allison Barker and Rachel Helkowski, backfielder Nicole Benedetti and Vickie Weikel along with keeper Kirsten Trojecki. Midfielder Liz Harbison and forward Jenna Richards—both sophomores—round out the CEC lineup.