Female player to debut with Mooney football team

YOUNGSTOWN — Cardinal Mooney's kicking game is about to get a boost — from the first female player in the storied football program's 60-year history.

Elizabeth “Lizzie” Philibin will wear No. 37 and ready for action as the Cardinals’ kicker.

Philibin is a senior midfielder with Cardinal Mooney's girls soccer team and has accepted a soccer scholarship at the University of Michigan.

When Philibin takes the field for the Cardinals tonight against Akron North at Youngstown State's Stambaugh Stadium, she will be the first female player in Cardinal Mooney football history.

The school announced Philibin's addition to the Cardinals' roster late Friday afternoon.

“Lizzie has been a standout at Mooney in both the classroom and on the soccer field for quite some time now," said Cardinal Mooney interim president Dan Landers. 

"It does not surprise me in the least that this young woman’s talents are now breaking barriers on the gridiron. Lizzie’s placement on the team is also a testament to our coaching staff, the atmosphere of inclusion and rewarding talent and hard work here at Mooney.”

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