Rams Beat Farrell, Fall to Stepinac and Iona

The Prep started off the week with a dominating win out on The Rock versus Monsignor Farrell, a team the Rams haven’t faced since 2016. Fordham owned the face off X winning close to 70% of the draws including Thomas Gies ‘23 (Rye) going 15/16 on the day with strong help from his wings. This enabled the Prep to have possession for over 70% of the game and allow seven different Rams to score. Matthew Leonard ‘21 (Larchmont) finished with seven points (5G/2A), a tally we haven’t seen since Thomas Marra ‘18 scored five against St. Dominic’s in 2018. The Rams outshot the Lions 45 to 14 and doubled them up on groundballs 40 to 20. The last time Fordham scored 18 goals and had a margin of victory this large was a 19 - 3 win over Mount Saint Michael’s in 2016.

The Rams then finished the week with two tough games against rivals Stepinac and Iona Prep. The Prep took a 12 - 5 loss to Stepinac, a team who has been closing the gap with Fordham and Iona the past couple of years. The Fordham had trouble converting on its possessions as Stepinac’s defense was relentless. The Rams just couldn’t find the back of the net with a bunch of missed shots and solid goalie play from the Crusader keeper. Gies ‘23 continued his success at the X going 10/11 while the team was 15/19. The Crusaders have now won the last two out of three versus the Rams with those two victories the only two in their program’s history. I’m sure the boys will be fired up for the rematch when they play in June.

The Prep also fell to Iona Prep 17 - 7 as Fordham’s youth was overmatched versus the Gaels’ depth and experience. Iona owned the transition game and executed near perfect rides on the Prep side of the field, which was the difference on the day. It was a tough first taste of this storied rivalry for every boy on the field but they’ll get another crack at the Gaels on May 24th at home. For those not familiar with the rivalry here’s a little history. Since 1992, the Fordham/Iona game has been decided by one goal 18 times with one goal games occurring twice in a season four times (1992, 2012, 2013, 2014). On top of that, the games have been decided in overtime seven times including twice in triple overtime (2008, 2014). Iona has now won three straight against Fordham since the Rams swept the Gaels in 2018. You can read about the Rams victory over Iona in the 2018 City Championship here.

This week the Prep faces a 1 - 3 Kellenberg team who share its three losses with the Prep: Chaminade 17 - 5, Stepinac 9 - 7, and Iona Prep 14 - 10. Then it’s a rematch with 0 - 4 St. John the Baptist, who the Rams beat 15 - 10 in their opener, before heading out to Long Island to face the #1 nationally ranked St. Anthony’s on Saturday. The Friars are 2 - 0 with wins over St. John the Baptist 17 - 3 and Iona Prep 14 - 8.

Congratulations to Eddy Madden ‘18 and Franklin & Marshall on its undefeated season and Centennial Conference Championship. Eddy and the rest of the #8 ranked Diplomats will face John Carroll in the first round of the NCAA DIII tournament.

Monsignor Farrell Recap: W 18 - 4

The Rams got off to an early start on their first possession moving the ball around the horn and getting movement from the Farrell defense which allowed Matthew Leonard ‘21 to sneak around from behind the cage and bounce a CJ Sowarby ‘21 (Manhattan) feed past the Lions’ goalie. Leonard ‘21 followed up immediately with his second goal before Jack O’Leary ‘23 (Rye) netted two back to back to make it 4 - 0 early. Lewis Moore ‘23 (New Rochelle) and Sowarby ‘21 each lit the lamp before Will Aventuro ‘21 (White Plains) went high to high on the Prep’s first man up situation, making it 7 - 0. Leonard ‘21 hit a hat trick with three minutes to go and a Moore ‘23 goal brought the tally to 9 - 0. The Prep long poles didn’t see much action in the quarter but the Rams did end up two men down and the defense did a nice job allowing Sean Miller ‘21 (Rye) to make a save and keep the Lions scoreless.

Farrell finally answered in the second quarter as a nice save by Miller ‘21 rebounded right to a Farrell player who dumped it in. The next Rams possession O’Leary ‘23 found a cutting Sowarby ‘21 who bounced one in from up, making it 10 - 1. Ryan Suarez ‘21 (Briarcliff Manor) added another for the Prep while the defense and Miller ‘21 continued to stifle Farrell’s offense until the Lions found the back of the net with 40 seconds left in the half to make it 11 - 2.

Farrell opened the second half scoring off a failed clear before Leonard ‘21 scored his fourth of the day to bring it to a 12 - 3 game. The Rams took their proverbial foot off the gas in the second half but were still able to find the back of the net several more times. Aventuro ‘21 scored a man up goal and O’Leary’s ‘23 nice spin move and goal took it to 14 - 3. A nifty Noel Regan ‘23 (Rye) feed to Moore ‘23 and Leonard’s ‘21 fifth made it a 16 - 3 score. The Rams netted two more before Farrell answered for the 18 - 4 final.

Stat Line: Leonard ‘21 5G/2A, O’Leary ‘23 3G/3A, Sowarby ‘21 2G/3A, Aventuro ‘21 2G/2A/4GB, Moore ‘23 3G/1A, Robichaux ‘21 1G/3A, Suarez ‘21 2G, Gies ‘23 1A/7GB, Miller ‘21 8 saves, Muccia ‘23 4GB

Stepinac Recap: L 12 - 5

The Prep had a couple nice looks with their first possession but couldn’t convert and Stepinac put in four quick goals to go up 4 - 0 at the end of one quarter. Charlie English ‘23 (Port Chester) did a nice job on a Stepinac long pole’s aggressive check dodging and driving to the cage and hitting a lefty bouncer to get the Rams on the board. The Crusaders answered with a transition goal and then two more to expand their lead to 7 - 1. Sean Miller ‘21 kept the Rams in the game with a couple of close in saves. Then a riding Jack O’Leary ‘23 checked the ball out of a Stepinac long pole and delivered it to Will Aventuro ‘21 who drove to the cage and scored making it 7 - 2 at the half.

The Crusaders opened the second half scoring with three straight goals making it 10 - 2. Fordham then got its first man up opportunity executing textbook ball movement resulting in an Aventuro ‘21 goal from CJ Sowarby ‘21 to end the third quarter down 10 - 3. Two quick Stepinac goals in early Q4 made it 12 - 3 before Aventuro ‘21 punched in his second and third goals of the game. Miller ‘21 and his long poles Phil Thompson ‘21 (Yonkers), William Muccia ‘23 (Rye), and Michael Semprevivo ‘23 (Port Chester) shut down the Crusaders for the remainder and O’Leary ‘23 netted his first to end it at 12 - 5.

Stat Line: Aventuro ‘21 3G/5GB, English ‘23 1G/2A, O’Leary ‘23 1G, Sowarby ‘21 1A, Miller ‘21 10 saves, Gies ‘23 8GB

Iona Prep Recap: L 17 -7

The Rams came out strong as Fordham connected on a check which resulted in a “yard sale” at midfield but Iona scooped up the loose ball and scored in transition to take the 1 - 0 lead. The Rams defense was hustling, gaining possessions sprinting to the sidelines after Iona shots. A couple of solid clears by Phil Thompson ‘21 led to an Iona penalty, however the Rams couldn’t convert. The Prep were great on rides including one that led to a goal by Jack O’Leary ‘23 at the six minute mark just off the Gael’s goalie’s shoulder to tie it up 1 - 1. Both goalies were walls as Sean Miller ‘21 made a great save and CJ Sowarby ‘21 was robbed down low at the 45 second mark. Iona was able to sneak one in with 10 seconds to go to take the lead 2 - 1 after the first.

The second quarter belonged to Iona as the Gaels couldn’t be stopped on transition but Sean miller ‘21 made several saves to keep the Rams in it. Iona scored off the opening face to make it 3 - 1 but a bunch of Prep failed clears and great riding by Iona (kills me to say it) resulted in 1 on 1 goals and the Gaels going up 6 - 1. Fordham got a huge opportunity when Iona got called for a double penalty on a ride including a two minute non-releasable cross check to the head - typical Iona style (sorry can’t resist an Iona dig!). The Prep couldn’t take advantage of the penalties as Iona did a decent job running away and killing the penalties after winning the face. A broken play allowed Charlie English ‘23 to draw a slide and he dumped it to Matthew Leonard ‘21 for the goal to bring the Rams within four 6 - 2. A beautiful save from Sean Miller ‘21 on a quick transition by Iona kept the game at that score at the half.

Iona scored on its first three possessions of the second half taking its lead to 9 - 2 before Aventuro ‘21 fed English ‘23 from behind the cage and English drilled the back of the net from the high crease. CJ Sowarby ‘21 followed that up with a sweeping lefty goal from around the back of the cage to make it 9 - 4. Iona and Fordham then traded goals as Aventura ‘21 scored when the Prep was man up again, taking advantage of a plethora of Iona penalties on the day. The Gaels scored with 1:30 to go in the third to extend their lead to 11 - 5 after three. Another failed clear and turnover led to a Gael goal before the Rams found themselves man up again and an O’Leary ‘23 skip pass to Aventuro ‘21 made it 12 - 6. Iona responded by putting in five straight on the Rams before another man up situation for the Rams resulted in English ‘23 scoring to make it a 17 -7 final.

Stat Line: English ‘23 2G/1A/7GB, O’Leary ‘23 1G/2A/4GB, Aventuro ‘21 2G, Sowarby ‘21 1G/1A, Leonard ‘21 1G/1A, Gies ‘23 1A/6GB, Miller ‘21 10 saves