On today’s Lax Goalie Rat Podcast episode, Coach Damon sits down to chat with Rutgers women’s goalie Sophia Cardello.
Coming out of Long Island, Sophia just finished her sophomore season at Rutgers helping the Scarlet Knights enjoy their most successful season since it began varsity play in 1977, securing a program-record 15 victories while advancing to its first Big Ten Tournament final since it began league play in 2015.
The Massapequa, NY native finished the 2022 season with a 10.59 GAA, .444 Save %, and made 164 all while helping Rutgers advance to the NCAA Tournament in back-to-back seasons making it to the second round of the NCAA Tournament before falling to Stony Brook.
Cardello was also named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week in May after registering two wins in the cage for RU during its back-to-back ranked road victories over No. 18 Temple and No. 21 James Madison, as she combined for 15 saves.
Prior to arriving in Piscataway, Sophia played her high school lacrosse at the legendary Massapequa High School where she started in the cage for the Chiefs as an eighth-grader all the way to her senior season which was unfortunately canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Sophia was a three-time all-county selection from 2017-19 and helped Massapequa to three consecutive Nassau County titles from 2016-18.
During her freshman year, Sophia appeared in 12 games, starting the final seven in the cage before leading Rutgers women’s lacrosse to its first NCAA Tournament victory in program history making seven save in RU’s opening-round NCAA win over No. 10 Drexel.
Sophia joins the show today to talk about growing up on Long Island, building great mental habits, her unique save techniques, and much more!
What a sequence for Sophia Cardello, who stops back-to-back attempts to keep ASU off the board! We lead 12-11 down the stretch! pic.twitter.com/D1o2CSufbm
— Rutgers Women's Lacrosse (@rutgers_wlax) April 3, 2022
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