The sun set on the UNH spring season, but the Wildcats feel there is hope that things will improve for a full fall campaign. (Photo courtesy of UNH Athletics).

Sean McDonnell gathered his players in a midfield socially distant formation at Wildcat Stadium last Friday to tell them the game last Saturday that they had been practicing hard for, at the University of Rhode Island, would not be played due to COVID protocols.

Then he saw the reaction – shrugged shouders, and tears.

And then Tuesday, via a Zoom meeting, he delivered the worst news of all, that the rest of the spring season was cancelled.

Simply put, the virus had won the battle.

“It was just a situation that just took off,” McDonnell said during a Wednesday press conference held virtually from Durham. “The numbers started jumping off the chart, not only with isolation cases, testing positive for COVID, but also contact tracing – roommates, people you were together with socially. It just kept getting bigger and bigger.”

McDonnell said he first thought that this weekend’s scheduled game with Stony Brook would be a casualty, but that the Wildcats could be able to play their season finale at Maine on April 17. The ‘Cats lost to UAlbany on March 5.

“We’d probably get eight or nine guys coming out of quarantine,” he reasoned. “But then we got hit again with our Sunday test, and got hit again (on Tuesday).

“The numbers spoke. It was the right decision based on what’s going on in our league (the CAA) right now. This is a very contagious disease, and once it gets inside, once it gets its hands on you, it spreads like wildfire. And that’s what happens with us.”

“It was really hard, especially for seniors,” said UNH senior tight end Jack Cavallaro. “It’s been year and a half, and these were games we were ready to play. … We were prepared to play with what we had. We might’ve had to start freshmen, but we were totally prepped for the game.”

“When I saw shoulders slumping and kids cried, it’s not easy,” McDonnell said. “It’s gut wrenching, because they’e invested an awful lot. As has our administration, our coaches, our staff. … Not a lot of fun. There’s no blueprint on how you do this stuff.”

McDonnell said he doesn’t know what the future holds, etc., for, say, the summer. He’s hoping he can get back with his players for them to do their conditioning, running, lifting, etc. physically. He’s hoping the vaccine will lead to a downward trend, etc.

“I don’t know what it’s going to be,” he said. “The numbers are still going up after a lull. I do know what we can do, we will do.”

McDonnell said the Wildcats could still practice if they wanted to until the season ends by rule on April 17.

“But I don’t think that makes a lot of sense right now,” McDonnell said. “When we get back to normal, I think that might be in July.” But added nothing is certain.

McDonnell knows one fifth-year senior,Brian Carter, who won’t return. He expects the other seniors who have that extra year of automatic eligibility due to the pandemic to return, but that will all be worked out down the road.

Cavallaro said he plans on returning.

“This year really put things into perspective for me, I’m going to take every game into account next season,” he said. “This team has meant so much to me.”

“The only thing that makes you feel better is when you see … more importantly, the players show resilience,” McDonnell said. “You get knocked down, get your tail back up, and go find out how you can improve the situation.”

“The unknown is hard,” Cavallaro said, adding he felt bad for McDonnell who had to gauge the numbers at the last minute. “Obviously we all wanted to play. But look around the country and what’s going on. Luckily for us, it’s just a season. There are people who lose jobs – and lives. We feel blessed to have played even one game.”

Plus the fall is a quick turnaround and players can turn their focus to that.

“Our kids are resilient,” McDonnell said. “We’ll get through this and we’ll get looking at the summer, and looking to next fall.”

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