When Muhlenberg and Dickinson teams meet on the court or the field, it is usually a battle between the red and white. At tomorrow’s women’s lacrosse game, however, the color scheme will be quite a bit different.

Both Muhlenberg and Dickinson will be donning special pink and teal shirts to raise awareness for breast and ovarian cancer. The team will also be collecting donations for the Sloan Kettering Cancer Center at their game as well as at the men’s game later that night.

Senior midfielder Ali Gabriele and her high school teammate, Chloe Golod, who plays for Dickinson, have more in common than just their love of lacrosse – their mothers have both battled cancer.

In the fall, the former teammates discussed the idea of doing something special at this year’s game in honor of their moms.

“My mom has ovarian cancer and her mom has had breast cancer, so that’s how the whole idea originated,” explained Gabriele.

“We didn’t think we would be able to do shirts and wear them as jerseys, but [athletic director Corey Goff] said we could do it as long as the colors were readable for the refs,” she added. “We got it all approved and ordered the shirts and are wearing them tomorrow as our jerseys.”

Pink is nationally recognized as a symbol of breast cancer, and teal is used to symbolize ovarian cancer.

Gabriele says she has played lacrosse with Golod since they were about 8 years old.

While her friend’s mother battled breast cancer many years ago, Gabriele’s experience with the disease has been more recent.

Her mother was first diagnosed at the end of her freshman year at Muhlenberg and was re-diagnosed again this fall. She is almost done with her chemo treatments this time around.

“It’s kind of been an ongoing thing since I’ve been in college,” stated Gabriele of her mother’s illness. “It’s tough, but she’s really strong and doesn’t give up. She’s totally a fighter and has that go-getter attitude.”

The lacrosse team, especially the senior class, has been a support system for Gabriele throughout the years.

“They’re my best friends, so I’m always around them and able to talk to them about it.

“We’ve done Relay For Life the past three years, so we’re always doing something to raise money for cancer,” she recalled. “But this year I wanted to do something more related to what I’ve gone through. So organizing this game, especially with one of my best friends from home, was a perfect way to do that.”

Although it’s been harder for her mother to come to games since being diagnosed again, especially with all the cold weather, she has still been able to come to many home games, even if she has to watch them from inside the Life Sports Center.

“She just really wants to be here,” said Gabriele.

And she will be here tomorrow, along with Gabriele’s father, for the game that will honor her battle with cancer and help raise awareness and support for others who are going through the same battle. Golod’s parents will also be in attendance.

As the mothers, who Gabriele says are “pretty good friends,” cheer for their daughters’ teams tomorrow, they will know that this special game was organized by two best friends – although those friends will be rivals for 60 minutes.

“I always really want to win this game against Dickinson because I want to beat her,” said Gabriele. “She’s beaten us the last three years, so I really want to win this year.”