Rams Conclude Regular Season, Face Stepinac in Playoffs

****Saturday 6/8 is the Alumni Game and Family BBQ. Please help us make the organizing easier by letting us know if you plan to play or attend by emailing fptopcornerclub@gmail.com. We already have alums from the classes of ‘93, ‘95, ‘02, and ‘11 committed, come out and represent your class.****

The Prep concluded its regular season falling to a pair of New Jersey teams. Don Bosco Prep notched a 7 - 2 victory over the Rams earlier in the week before the Prep fell to Westfield 14 - 2 on Saturday. The loss to Westfield didn’t overshadow what was a beautiful, sunny afternoon on Murphy Field where the program honored the 14 seniors on the team.

The team will play Archbishop Stepinac tomorrow at 4:30pm in White Plains in the CHSAA “AA” playoffs. The seedings have the Rams as the #3 seed playing #2 Stepinac, with the winner moving on to play #1 Iona Prep on Wednesday in New Rochelle. Fordham looks to avenge an early season 8 - 7 OT loss to the Crusaders. Stepinac is currently 7 - 9 and has faced several mutual opponents including Iona, St. John the Baptist, Bronxville, and Kellenberg.

Many thanks to all who donated to our annual equipment drive, especially Michael Adair ‘20 (Rye) and his family, as well as alum Mark Powers ‘02, for organizing. I know the boys and girls from Bronx Lacrosse and City Lax will put it all to good use. The amount of equipment collected even surpassed last year’s impressive haul and we’ll try and tabulate an inventory as soon as we can.

Congratulations to the Class of 2019 on your hard work and dedication to the Fordham Prep lacrosse program: Ethan Tym '19 (New Rochelle), Jack Stroligo '19 (Sleepy Hollow), Kelly Hughes '19 (Bronxville), James Cunningham '19 (Larchmont), Quinn Beyer '19 (Rye), Stephen Zupicich '19 (Bronxville), Quinn English '19 (Port Chester), Matthew Reilly '19 (Port Chester), Ryan Casey '19 (Stamford), Owen Walsh '19 (Larchmont), Brendan Sowarby ‘19 (Manhattan), Luke Savage '19 (Rye), Ryan Fodero '19 (White Plains), Patrick McAllister '19 (Manhattan)

Westfield (NJ) Recap (L 14 - 2)

Westfield got on the board first netting two quick goals before the Rams could settle into any flow. An illegal stick penalty gave Westfield an early man up situation but the Rams defense didn’t yield as Will Rice ‘20 (New Rochelle) made a fantastic save stoning a Blue Devil attackman on the doorstep after two fakes. Rice ‘20 made another two nice saves before Westfield was able to drive down the right alley and score to make it 3 - 0. Following a quick restart Rice’ 20 made another one on one save to keep it a three goal game at the end of the first quarter.

The goalie play on the other end of the field was just as strong as Westfield’s keeper continued to deny the Rams offense with impressive saves and was the the real difference maker for their team. The Blue Devil defense was playing very aggressive picking up a bunch of penalties but succeeded in killing them all. With under two minutes to go in the half Westfield held a 5 - 0 lead. Another WIll Rice ‘20 save with 30 seconds left kept it 5 - 0 at the break.

The Westfield offense continued to get the better of the Rams as they extended their lead to 7 - 0. A great overhead check and strip by Stephen Zupicich ‘19 lead to Ethan Tym ‘19 getting the ball through traffic over the midline but the Rams could not capitalize as the Blue Devils came back the other way and put one in to make it 8 - 0. Tym ‘19 and Zupicich ‘19 would both eventual score goals to make it an 11 - 2 game but Westfield put the last few in taking the win 14 - 2.

Stat Line: Zupicich ‘19 1G, Tym ‘19 1G, Rice ‘20 9 saves

Don Bosco Prep (NJ) Recap (L 7 - 2)

Don Bosco dominated the first quarter as they went up 4 - 0. Their defense made the Rams work hard on possessions, not giving easy looks and forcing the Prep to come up empty as they couldn’t get shots on net. The Fordham defense was working hard to keep things close as Ethan Tym ‘19 had a nice strip on an Ironmen attackman as he was shooting, Stephen Zupicich ‘19 picked off a pass, and Patrick McAllister ‘19 started several transitions with groundballs.

The Ironmen put another in early in the second quarter before Ethan Tym ‘19 hit a cutting Harry Randell ‘20 (Port Chester) who found Roman Cammarota ‘20 (Irvington) on the crease to get the Rams on the board. Quinn English ‘19 netted the Rams’ second goal on a scrappy loose ball in front of the Don Bosco cage to cut the lead to 5 - 2, where it ended at halftime.

The second half saw the Rams settle down as they began to clear the ball better, going 9 for 10, and reducing turnovers. However, the Ironmen defense wouldn’t yield and Fordham’s shots continued to be off target allowing Don Bosco to take a 7 - 2 lead into the fourth quarter. Both teams couldn’t get much going in the final quarter and with no goals scored in the period the game ended with Don Bosco winning 7 - 2.

Stat Line: English ‘19 1G, Cammarota ‘20 1G, H. Randell ‘20 1A, Tym ‘19 5GB, Rice ‘20 4 saves