Rams Roll On To 4 - 0; Marra '18 and Dougherty '18 Hit Milestones

       Another couple of solid wins for the Rams this week on the road versus St. John the Baptist and Kellenberg.  The mid-week matinee at St. John the Baptist saw strong fan turnout for both teams braving what was a windy and cold day.   The crowd saw the Rams take a 9 - 1 halftime lead and never look back in the win.  At Kellenberg, the Prep made a strong statement solidly handling the Firebirds and avenging its season ending loss last year in the playoffs.  The game saw more goals netted than the past two outings between the teams combined.  Both the offensive and defensive units are executing well.  The team’s 59 goals are the most through four games since the 61 tallied in 2006, while the defense has held opponents to a stingy 5 goals per game average.

       Congratulations to Thomas Marra ‘18 (Irvington) and Jack Dougherty ‘18 (Manhattan) for registering their 150th (95G/62A) and 50th (37G/13A) career points this week, respectively.  Additionally, Jack Stroligo ‘19 (Sleepy Hollow) got his first varsity point finding the back of the net versus St. John the Baptist.  Marra ‘18 is currently behind Jamison Embury (Yorktown) in the #2 slot of the Lohud Boys Lacrosse Scoring Leaders with 28 points (21G/10A).

       All in all, a solid team effort as the Rams hit their stride heading into a busy week with three games on the slate.  Tomorrow the Rams face an undefeated (3 - 1) Rye team at Murphy Field, looking to avenge a mid-season loss from last year.  An away game on Thursday versus Wilton (2 - 0) and a game against St. Dominic’s (2 - 2) on Friday (at Sacred Heart Univ.) round out the week.

       Be on the lookout shortly for an email with details on the Alumni Game/BBQ in June.

St. John the Baptist Recap:  (W 13 - 5)

       Stephen Zupicich ‘19 (Bronxville) dominated the afternoon at the faceoff X as the Rams came up with 80% of the faceoffs.  From that possession advantage, the offense piled on the points as Thomas Marra ‘18 bested his 6 goal game game against Rye Country Day by tallying 7 on the day.  Jack Dougherty ‘18 notched a hat trick in weather more suited to his hockey days.  Rounding out the goals scored were Edward Madden ‘18 (Crestwood), Stroligo ‘19, and Zupicich ‘19 who each had 1.  Brendan Sowarby ‘19 (Manhattan) did a fabulous job setting up many of these goals.   

       The other standout performance was in groundball creation and possession.  Ethan Tym ‘19 (New Rochelle) and Michael Bugniazet ‘18 (Harrison) both created and lifted more than 7 GBs each.  It was also great to see Patrick McAllister ‘19 (Manhattan) on defense returning from the DL to get his fair share of GBs as well.  Once again, James Corasaniti ‘19 (Manhattan) and Will Rice ‘20 (New Rochelle) paired up to have a solid day in net.

Stat Line:  Marra ‘18 7G/1A, Dougherty ‘18 3G/1A, Madden ‘18 1G, Stroligo ‘19 1G, Zupicich ‘19 1G, Corasaniti ‘18 6 saves, Rice ‘20 3 saves

Kellenberg Recap:  (W 17  - 10)

       This one lived up to the expectations of a rivalry atmosphere as Fordham Prep lost by a goal last year in the downstate playoff semi-finals to the Firebirds.

       Zupicich had another strong day facing off by winning 65% of the draws at the X.  Kellenberg came out hot, firing early in the first quarter but were thwarted by Corasaniti ‘18 with four quick saves.  Once the Rams got possession the scoring began with Madden ‘18 netting a nice goal off an old school bull dodge.  The Prep took a quick two goal lead in the opening minutes of the game but Kellenberg fought back to go ahead 2 - 3 with a minute left in the first quarter.  However, in the closing seconds, Zupicich ‘19 scored a doorstep goal with his long pole on an assist from Bugniazet ‘18 to tie it up 3 - 3 at end of the quarter.

       In the opening minutes of second quarter Corasaniti ‘18 again came up big with three rapid fire saves all on the crease.  From that point forward, the Rams never looked back dictating the pace of play and keeping the Firebirds off kilter from their usual “trap” style.  

       The offensive streak continued, led again by Marra ‘18 who registered 5 goals and 2 assists.  Dougherty ‘18 put up another hat trick and was joined by Madden ‘18 and James Murray ‘18 (Larchmont), who also had hat tricks.  While the offense was electric the story continues to be the strength of the defense.  While Zupicich ‘19 continues to anchor the defense, Tym ‘19 and Bugniazet ‘18 consistently creating turnovers are forces to be reckoned with for opposing offenses.  

Stat Line:  Marra ‘18 6G/3A, Murray ‘18 3G/2A, Madden ‘18 - 3G/2A, Dougherty ‘18 3G, Brown ‘18 1G, Zupicich ‘19 1G, Bugniazet ‘18 1A, Corasaniti ‘18 12 saves