Rams Beat St. John and Loyola Los Angeles, Fall to Kellenberg

****Dates to keep in mind: Saturday 5/11 game versus Westfield (NJ) is Senior Day and the Alumni Watch Game as well as the date for our equipment drive. Saturday 6/8 is the Alumni Game and Family BBQ****

The Rams were able to bounce back from last week’s Iona loss with a dominating 14 - 5 win over St. John the Baptist and followed that up with a solid 9 - 7 win versus Jesuit brethren Loyola - Los Angeles. Unfortunately, the team could not add to its first back-to-back wins of the season and fell to Kellenberg on Saturday 16 - 8. The Prep will look to get back into the win column with another busy week as it faces three Westchester teams in Rye High School, Bronxville High School, and Rye Country Day.

Rye brings a 5 - 4 record but it includes an 8 - 6 loss to common opponent John Jay, an OT loss to 2018 state champion Pleasantville, and a 5 - 4 loss to Lohud.com locally #1 ranked Mamaroneck. The Rams have lost two straight to Rye including a 10 - 4 contest last year (recap). The Garnets are ranked #8 by Lohud.com. Bronxville, the #5 Lohud.com ranked squad, sports an 8 - 1 record with the lone loss to St. Anthony’s 15 - 5. The Broncos have an early season 12 - 9 win versus Stepinac. Last year the Rams defeated Bronxville 15 - 12 (recap). Rye Country Day is currently 8 - 3 with a loss to St. Peter’s in its first game, a team the Prep beat earlier this season 12 - 5. The Rams are 4 - 0 all-time versus RCDS including a 14 - 2 contest in 2018 (recap).

Congratulations to the following players who scored their first varsity points: Harry Georges ‘20 (Sleepy Hollow), Mekhi Simpson ‘20 (New Rochelle), William Aventuro ‘21 (White Plains), Patrick McAllister ‘19 (Manhattan).

St. John the Baptist Recap (W 14 -5)

Facing league rival St. John the Baptist from Suffolk county on a gorgeous spring day at the Prep the boys got their mojo going early and often winning the first 3 of 4 faceoffs and capturing an early 3- 0 lead. The Prep offense exploded out of the gates as Quinn English ‘19 (Port Chester) and Mekhi Simpson ‘20 scored the first two goals of the game while English ‘19 netted his second tally off the rebound of a nice St. John keeper’s save. Fordham kept the pressure on scoring two more, including a stick side high snipe from Harry Georges ‘20 and took a 5 - 0 lead into the second quarter. It was an 8 - 0 contest before the Cougars snuck one by the Prep to make it 8 - 1.

St. Johns, always well prepared, had a couple of excellent opportunities to narrow the lead on some man up chances but stellar goaltending by Will Rice ‘20 (New Rochelle) quelled each attempt. The Rams built upon that success and extended the lead comfortably into halftime as Simpson ‘20 scored his second of the day off a nice high to high shot taking a 10 - 1 lead into the half. A heads up play by Quinn Beyer ‘19 (Rye) as he jumped the unassuming St. John’s goalie lead to a ground ball and score by Brendan Sowarby ‘19 (Manhattan) to make it 11 - 1. Fordham and St. John traded goals the rest of the game before the final whistle ended it 14 - 5.

The Prep defense was solid again on clears being successful 20 out of 23 times and picking up 36 ground balls. It was a great overall day for the team as everyone was able to contribute and parlay a total team effort into a very convincing win versus a stubborn opponent and the Rams tallied the most goals of the year.

Stat Line: Sowarby ‘19 2G, Aventuro ‘21 2G, Simpson ‘20 2G/6GB, English ‘19 2G, Beyer ‘19 1G/2A, Trennert ‘20 1G/1A, Georges ‘20 1G/1A, Loffredo ‘20 1G/1A, Cunningham ‘19 1G, Zupicich ‘19 1G/5GB, Stroligo ‘19 2A, McAllister ‘19 1A, Rice ‘20 5 saves, Turnbull ‘20 5 saves

Loyola - Los Angeles (W 9 - 7)

Trying to leverage the success of Tuesday’s win, the Rams faced a very competitive Loyola team from Los Angeles, stacked with future college lacrosse and football players, who were finishing their season on the east coast. After a very tough loss a few days prior to nationally ranked Garden City, Loyola looked to exact some revenge early as they built a very quick 3 - 0 lead in the first three minutes. The deficit could of been worse if not for the timely goaltending of Will Rice ‘20 as he was able to keep the Cubs’ lead at three. The Prep finally settled down and got some momentum taking advantage of a man up opportunity with Stephen Zupicich ‘19 (Bronxville) filling in for some injured attackmen. He got the team on the board by finding the back of the net past the Loyola keeper off-stick side low. Owen Murray ‘20 (Larchmont) followed up with the two goals in a row to tie it up before James Cunningham ‘19 (Larchmont) put one in for Fordham to take a 4 - 3 lead into halftime.

Loyola came out of the half determined and put three straight goals in the net to take a 6 - 4 lead. Fordham and Loyola then traded goals and back and forth possessions before the third quarter ended with the Cubs up 7 - 5. The Rams began to claw back in the fourth quarter starting with Mekhi Simpson ‘20 driving down the alley scoring to cut the deficit to one. Goalie Will Rice ‘20 then found a cutting Stephen Zupicich ‘19 at mid-field who bolted towards the cage and found Quinn Beyer ‘19 on the doorstep to knot the game up at 7 - 7. The Rams ended up putting in four unanswered as Brendan Sowarby ‘19 netted one off a dive at the crease and Stephen Zupicich ‘19 grabbed a ground ball and raced down the sideline for an upper corner pole goal and a 9 - 7 Prep lead.

Loyola would not quit as they pressured Fordham until the end. Some solid defense and goaltending preserved the two goal win. A great, gutsy “W” for the Prep and a great day competing with the school's west coast Jesuit brethren. The defense was once again a vacuum picking up 45 ground balls and cleared the ball in 22 out of 27 attempts.

Stat Line: Zupicich ‘19 2G/1A/8GB, Murray ‘20 2G, Beyer ‘19 2G, Simpson ‘20 1G/1A, Cunningham ‘19 1G, Georges ‘10 1G, Stroligo ‘19 2A, Rice ‘20 8 saves, Tym ‘19 6GB

Kellenberg Recap (L 16 - 8)

The first quarter was all Firebirds as Kellenberg came out on all cylinders and dropped six goals on the Rams before they were able to answer. Towards the end of the quarter Brendan Sowarby ‘19 hit a sharp across field pass to Quinn Beyer ‘19 who deposited it in the top right corner of the cage to get the Rams on the board. Fordham started the second quarter with Beyer ‘19 finding the back of the net off a Jack Stroligo ‘19 assist and Mekhi Simpson ‘20 burying a lefty shot past the keeper in the lower left corner to make it a 6 - 3 game. However, the Kellenberg lead continued to grow during the quarter as they put five more in the net to the Rams’ two and took an 11 - 5 lead into halftime.

Kellenberg extending its lead in the third and early fourth quarters before Quinn English ‘19 spun though some traffic for his first of the game making it 14 - 6. The Prep followed up with a nice Jack Stroligo ‘19 pass to James Cunningham ‘19 cutting in front of the crease to cut the margin to seven. Unfortunately, Kellenberg netted two more before Quinn Beyer ‘19 was able to register his fourth goal of the game as the Firebirds avenged their loss last year with the 16 - 8 victory.

Stat Line: Beyer ‘19 4G, Simpson ‘20 2G/1A/63% FO%, English ‘19 1G, Cunningham ‘19 1G/1A, Stroligo ‘19 2A, Sowarby ‘19 1A