CENTER VALLEY, PA (Sept. 11, 2026) - On Wednesday night, the DeSales University field hockey team dedicated their game to causes that were meaningful to each student-athlete. Every member of the team selected a cause that held personal significance to them, to bring awareness to the people, organizations, and communities they care about.  

Sophomore goalkeeper, Lily Trocki dedicated her game to esophageal cancer, she chose this because "it greatly impacts people's daily lives and can make it impossible for people to speak and enjoy time with their family and friends." Junior defender Gianna Franceschino chose to dedicate her game to autism awareness, "I believe it is important to respect and value everyone no matter the differences between us. I also work with many people who have autism and formed many relationships with people in the autistic community." Junior midfielder Stephanie Pallante also picked autism awareness for her cause, "I've always had a passion for working with kids/adults with autism and other intellectual disabilities. Playing for this cause is really important to me because of my involvement with best buddies and future as a special education teacher." First-year forward, Gaby Paul and junior midfielder, Mia Carder chose mental health and mental illness respectively. Paul chose to play for mental health and to play for those who are unable to. Carder choose the National Alliance on Mental Illness, "This battle has taken people from my life and impacts those closest to me, I play for this cause to honor the multitude of mental illnesses and representing it at this level is a badge of honor for me." First-year forward, Lauren Reznick, picked dementia as her cause, "my nana has dementia since I was six years old and as I grew up, I feel like I progressively lost pieces of her every time I saw her. She passed away almost four years ago so I would like to play for her." First-year Shelby Haldeman chose breast cancer, stating that she chose this cause since her grandmother had breast cancer. Finally, senior forward, Aliyah Negron chose leiomyosarcoma awareness, because her mom passed away from this cancer in December of 2025.  

Every single member of the team wore a ribbon in their hair with the colors for the cause that they chose and had a chance to share more about why the cause mattered to them.