Some conference championships are more special than others. For the University of Scranton women’s soccer team, its 4-2 victory over Moravian College in the first Landmark Conference championship November 3 was a triumph of the human spirit.

In late July, a month before preseason camp was to begin, veteran head coach Joe Bochicchio died after a month-long battle with cancer at the age of 61. Bochicchio took over the program on a part-time basis in 1984, one year after it was started, and led Scranton to national prominence. He won 298 matches, including 15 Middle Atlantic/Freedom Conference titles, and advanced to the NCAA Division III championship 11 times.

“When I found out that Joe was ill — he had called me personally in the middle of summer to go over some things — it was kind of unreal,” said tri-captain and senior Mary Beth Vogel. “When he died, it still didn’t even feel real. It brought out a lot of emotions to see everyone there at Joe’s funeral, and then even at the beginning of the season, it just wasn’t the same without him.”

No one realized this more than veteran athletics director and long-time friend Toby Lovecchio, who had to make a quick decision about the direction of the program. Should he immediately start looking for a new coach, promote an assistant from within, or hire an interim?

“Most importantly, we wanted our student-athletes to know that we cared about them, and that Joe was such an integral component of this program,” Lovecchio said. “We all loved him very much, and we were going to make this a special year in every way possible.”

Lovecchio consulted with his wife, Cathy, and his boss, Vince Carilli, vice president for student affairs, about taking over on an interim basis. He certainly possessed the credentials, both as a player and as a coach. A 1985 graduate of the university, he was a two-time all-conference selection and member of two teams that reached the national semifinals. Before becoming the AD at Scranton in 1997, Lovecchio guided the women’s soccer team at Bucknell University to six straight Patriot League tournament appearances.

“I went to Vince and told him our options,” said Lovecchio. “We both felt we had to keep everything as positive as possible, while focusing our energies on the health and welfare of the student-athletes and preserving the memory of coach Bochicchio. We wanted to maintain some semblance of continuity, and it just made sense to do it this way.”

Even though Lovecchio’s Royals lost their first three matches and scored only four goals in their first seven, he remained confident things would change. The team was playing solid defense — a staple of Bocchicchio-coached teams — and the Royals were holding their own against highly rated opponents.

The Royals began building momentum with a 2-0 victory in its Landmark Conference opener against Susquehanna and continued through the final three weeks of the season. Scranton won five of its last seven matches to finish with a 9-9-2 record.

Beth Stephens, who Lovecchio moved from defender to forward in mid-season, jump-started the offense by finishing with a team-high 10 goals, including three in the victory over Moravian in the Landmark Conference title game.

She was selected first-team all-conference, as were Mary Beth Vogel and Laura Gibbons, who was named the league’s defensive player of the year.

For Gibbons and Vogel, along with the seven other seniors, it was their third conference title in four years. All three took on a special meaning.

In 2004, the Royals were coming off an NCAA quarterfinal appearance the previous year and were the heavy favorite to win the Freedom Conference. And last fall in its final season in the Freedom Conference, Scranton earned an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament where the Royals lost a 4-3 heartbreaker in overtime to Williams in what turned out to be Bochicchio’s last match as head coach.

Even though this year’s league championship did not produce a berth in the NCAA tournament — the Landmark Conference does not have an automatic bid in any championships this season — it didn’t diminish what the Royals accomplished over the past three months.

For Vogel, it was a testimony to a gentleman whose commitment to the program, love of the game, and compassion and respect for his players far exceeded his numerous personal accomplishments.
“Joe’s legacy lives on, in different players and definitely in Scranton soccer in general,” she said. “Seeing how he shaped players and how he created this program to be a winning program and to expect success, from the players and the people that come into this team. I’ve seen how much one person can influence a program, a team and individuals.”

Kevin Southard is the sports information director at the University of Scranton.