2019 Season Recap

The 30th season of Fordham Prep lacrosse is in the books and it certainly was a memorable one to build on the program’s history. The 2019 squad made it to the CHSAA ‘AA’ City championship game, unfortunately losing to Iona Prep. The Rams faced one of the most difficult schedules in program history, including three teams that finished the season nationally ranked (#5 Gonzaga, #14 John Jay, #23 Georgetown Prep) and two that went deep in the New York state public school tournament (John Jay - championship game, Rye - semifinals). The final record for the team was 7 - 12 with the season ending against Kellenberg in the CHSAA ‘AA’ Intersectional semifinals. Once again the team filled a trophy case of end of season awards. Leading the way were Stephen Zupicich ‘19 (Bronxville) who was named the program’s 26th US Lacrosse All-American and Ethan Tym ‘19 (New Rochelle) who was named CHSAA LSM of the Year. Zupicich ‘19 (First Team) and Tym ‘19 (Honorable Mention) were both chosen for the Lohud.com All-County team.
The season was bookended by the induction in March of an additional three alumni into the Fordham Prep Lacrosse Hall of Fame, and the family BBQ and alumni game in June. You can check out all the on and off the field recaps and photos through the links below.
We would like to thank all those that helped continue the momentum the Top Corner Club has achieved in its infancy and look forward to continuing to bring updates, news, and events to the Fordham Prep lacrosse community. We welcome all feedback and ideas for improvement, and encourage all alumni, parents, and friends who would like to help with the continued success of the organization to contact us at fptopcornerclub@gmail.com.
If you would still like to support the Top Corner Club and the lacrosse program, you can donate (here). Enjoy the offseason and we will see you in the Spring!

2019 Season Recap:

The Rams opened the season in sunny Florida at the Jesuit Classic facing Belen Jesuit of Tampa and Washington, DC’s Gonzaga. The Rams took home a solid 11 - 7 win versus Belen Jesuit but were overmatched by the nationally ranked Gonzaga squad falling 12 - 1 (recaps). There wasn’t much time to rest after coming back north as the Prep then headed down to Maryland to face another nationally ranked team in Georgetown Prep (recap). The Rams fell 14 - 2 but were gaining valuable experience against teams loaded with future college level talent. Fordham then started its league schedule at Stepinac who has recently become an improved and formidable foe, which was evident from the Crusaders 8 - 7 overtime upset win (recap).
The schedule didn’t get any easier as the Rams continued with games against Weston (CT) and nationally ranked John Jay, a team that eventually made it to the New York public school state championship game. Weston (CT) beat the Rams 10 - 2 (recap) while John Jay took home a 10 - 3 victory, avenging their upset loss to the Prep last year (recap). These early season setbacks against such high quality opponents would help prepare the team for the rest of the season and Fordham rebounded with a dominant 12 - 5 win against St. Peter’s Prep bringing its record to 2 - 6 (recap). Next up was arch rival Iona Prep who was out for blood following last year’s loss to the Rams in the City Championship game. The Gaels, who would end up winning the CHSAA ‘AA’ state championship, prevailed winning 8 - 2 (recap).
The Prep then strung together back to back wins and improved its record to 4 - 6 beating league foe St. John the Baptist 14 - 5 and west coast Jesuit brethren Loyola - Los Angeles (CA) 9 - 7 (recap). The Rams then dropped two including a loss to Kellenberg 16 - 8 (recap) and a brutal double overtime loss to Rye 4 -3 (recap). Then the squad dug deep and posted another two wins versus Bronxville 7 - 2 and Rye Country Day 9 - 7 (recap). The regular season finished up versus teams from New Jersey with the Rams falling to Don Bosco 7 - 2 and Westfield 14 - 2 and taking a 6 - 8 record into the CHSAA playoffs (recaps).
As the #3 seed from the CHSAA ‘AA’ City division the Prep had a first round rematch against Stepinac. This time around the Prep prevailed in a hard fought back and forth 6 - 5 win setting up a repeat of last year’s City Championship against Iona. The Gaels wouldn’t let the Rams repeat as city champs and took home the title with a 9 - 3 win (recap). The playoffs then moved on to intersectionals with the Long Island CHSAA ‘AA’ teams where the Prep faced Kellenberg again. Although the game was a much closer contest than their regular season matchup the Firebirds ended the Rams’ season 10 - 8 with Fordham posting a 7 - 12 final record (recap).
The 2019 lacrosse team picked up a full trophy case of end of season awards; deserving acknowledgements for the team’s on the field performance. The following were recognized for their performances this Spring:

U.S. Lacrosse All-American: Stephen Zupicich ‘19
CHSAA ‘AA’ LSM of the Year: Ethan Tym ‘19

Lohud.com All-County 1st Team: Stephen Zupicich ‘19
Lohud.com All-County Honorable Mention: Ethan Tym ‘19

CHSAA ‘AA’ 1st Team All-League: James Cunningham ‘19, Patrick McAllister ‘19, Mekhi Simpson ‘20, Ethan Tym ‘19, Stephen Zupicich ‘19
CHSAA ‘AA’ 2nd Team All-League: Quinn Beyer ‘19, Quinn English ‘19

NYC Mayor’s Cup CHSAA Team: Stephen Zupicich ‘19 and Ethan Tym ‘19

Alumni:

The season kicked off with the annual Hall of Fame dinner and fundraiser where Dan Cunniffe ‘93, Chris Moffa ‘09, and Chris Smith ‘11 were inducted (bios). In addition to honoring the accomplishments of these alums, through generous donations of our guests, silent auction donors, and our dinner sponsors, we raised significant funds to help cover equipment and season costs, as well as underwriting additional season expenses. Through your generosity we raised enough funds to sponsor three boys from Bronx Lacrosse to the Prep’s HAP summer program.
In May, the Top Corner Club conducted an equipment drive to benefit the CityLax and Bronx Lacrosse organizations. The amount of equipment donated by alums, current players, and parents was outstanding and much greater than expected. The two beneficiary organizations, were truly excited to receive the donated equipment which will be used to help give New York City students their first opportunity to play lacrosse.
Congratulations to James Corasaniti ‘18 (Fairfield) who started in goal as a freshman and earned the Colonial Athletic Association Rookie of the Week award twice. Kudos to Jack Dougherty ‘18 (Holy Cross) and Eddy Madden ‘18 (Franklin & Marshall) who both scored their first collegiate goals this past season. Congratulations to Luke Chmiel ‘15 (Brown), Patrick Coughlin ‘15 (Kenyon), Jack Leitner ‘15 (Skidmore), and Will Randell ‘15 (Dartmouth) who all finished their college playing careers.
To close out the season we hosted a family BBQ, alumni game, and kids clinic at the Prep. The day began with an alumni led clinic for the kids from Bronx Lacrosse while close to 30 alums, representing graduating years from 1993 to 2019, participated in the alumni game. Post game everyone headed to Mentor’s Court for the BBQ and to catch up and get their hands on some of the available Fordham Prep lacrosse swag (photos).