Rams Win Fourth Straight; Face Stepinac in Playoffs Tomorrow

****The Alumni Game and Family BBQ is scheduled for Sunday, June 12th at the Prep. We’d love to see a great turnout in the first year back from the two year COVID hiatus and the sooner we know numbers the better. To help with organizing and swag ordering for those playing, please register through the google form here.****

The Prep continued its recent strong play and finished up the regular season on a four game win streak with victories last week over Long Island Lutheran and St. Joseph - Metuchen (NJ). Jack Freel ‘23 (Manhattan) has been on a tear during the stretch scoring 33 points (17G/16A) and garnering Lohud.com Player of the Day for his 6G/2A performance against Long Island Lutheran (article). Freel ‘23 followed that up with 6G/3A against St. Joseph’s - Metuchen and is nominated for Luhud.com Player of the Week. Please take the time to cast a vote for him here before voting ends tomorrow at 3pm (it’s still very close).

Kudos to Freel ‘23 and Lewis Moore ‘23 (New Rochelle) for making the list of highest scorers in the region (article). We also have a bunch of milestones to highlight. Congrats to Joseph Paladino ‘22 (Eastchester) and Gunnar Leonard ‘23 (Larchmont) for scoring their first career goals against Rye Country Day and St. Joseph’s - Metuchen, respectively. Lewis Moore ‘23 registered his 50th career point in the Rye Country Day game, while Jack Freel ‘23 notched his 50th career point and Tommy Gies ‘23 (Rye) won his 250th career faceoff against Long Island Lutheran.

The Rams start the playoffs tomorrow and will face Stepinac in White Plains in the CHSAA “AA” semi-finals. The winner will go on to play Iona Prep for the City Championship. The Crusaders are 11 - 7 and got the better of Fordham 15 - 7 in the Rams’ second game of the season (recap). The two schools have faced each other in the playoffs the past two seasons with the Crusaders knocking the Prep out last year 12 - 10 (recap) and the Rams doing the same to the Stepinac 6 - 5 in 2019 (recap).

Congrats to James Corasaniti ‘18 (Fairfield) and Eddy Madden ‘18 (Franklin & Marshall) who finished their respective college careers this week. James won numerous Colonial Athletic Association goalie accolades and finished his career at Fairfield #6 in wins, #6 in saves, and #3 in saves per game (just ahead of his former Prep coach Charlie Cipriano). Eddy helped lead F&M in 2021 to an undefeated Centennial conference crown and to the second round of the NCAA tournament. He punctuated his senior season this year with six goals and four assists.

Long Island Lutheran Recap: W 11 - 9

The Prep drew first blood early when PJ Cunningham ‘24 (Bronx) scooped up a loose ball and dumped it to Jack Freel ‘23 on the crease who deposited a behind the back shot past the LiLu keeper. Freel ‘23 followed that up on the next possession driving from X and bouncing one 5-hole on the goalie and then made it a hat trick a minute later sweeping past his defender from up top. Two straight from the Crusaders cut the Rams’ lead to one but Charlie English ‘23 (Port Chester) found a cutting James Davis ‘24 (Rye) to make it 4 - 2. One more from LuHi brought it to 4 - 3 at the end of the first quarter. The Prep extended the lead to 5 - 3 at the three minute mark off Jack Freel ‘23 and PJ Cunningham ‘24 playing a two man game behind the cage with Cunningham ‘24 rolling above GLE to sneak it in. A late man-up opportunity for the Crusaders allowed them to cut the lead to 5 - 4 but Charlie English ‘23 responded with a rocket high past the LuHi goalie to take the lead back to two. A goal by the Crusaders with a minute to go made it 6 - 5 at the half.

LuHi tied it up 6 - 6 early in the third quarter but the Rams regained the lead midway through off another Charlie English ‘23 blast from a dozen yards out, sticking it just inside the pipe. In the first minute of the fourth quarter Jack Freel ‘23 thread the needle between two Crusader sticks to find PJ Cunningham ‘24 on the crease for a quickstick goal. On the next possession Freel ‘23 drove from behind, split two defenders and dumped it in to take the Rams lead to 9 - 6. Jack Freel’s fourth of the day took the Ram lead to 10 - 6 before two straight by LuHi cut the score to 10 - 8. A terrific ride by the attack resulted in PJ Cunningham ‘24 picking off a pass and feeding to a cutting Jack Freel ‘23 for the Prep’s 11th goal. A Crusader goal at the seven minute mark was all they could muster as Fordham’s defense shut LuHi offense down the rest of the way to preserve the 11 - 9 victory.

Stat Line: Freel ‘23 6G/2A, Cunningham ‘24 2G/4A, English ‘23 2G/1A, Davis ‘24 1G, Gies ‘23 9GBs, Lalonde ‘25 13 saves

St. Joseph - Metuchen (NJ Recap: W 17 - 9

After a long opening possession of over three minutes St. Joe’s took a 1 - 0 lead but Charlie English ‘23 tied the game at 7:00 left with a blast from 12 yards out. Both goalies made several saves, keeping the game knotted up, until Jack Freel ‘23 scored his first of the day with just under two minutes to go in the quarter. Two quick tallies by Lewis Moore ‘23 made it 4 - 1 at quarter end. The Falcons came roaring back scoring four straight to take the lead 5 - 4 until a great save by Trey Lalonde ‘25 (New Fairfield) started a fast break by James Spring ‘34 who kept it himself and tied it up. Off a great ride, which caused a loose ball, Jack O’Leary ‘23 (Rye) and PJ Cunningham ‘24 executed a nice give and go with O’leary ‘23 finishing to give the Rams the lead again. The lead didn’t last long as on its next possession St. Joe’s tied it up 6 - 6, but Jack Freel ‘23 answered immediately with 41 seconds in the half giving the Rams a 7 - 6 halftime edge.

Fordham opened it up early in the third quarter with Jack Freel ‘23 feeding Hudson Pifer ‘23 (Croton-on-Hudson) and a Lewis Moore ‘23 high bouncer taking the score to 9 - 6. A great takeaway by James Spring ‘24 (Rye) led to a Matt Battista ‘24 (Manhattan) fast break and PJ Cunningham ‘24 finding Jack Freel ‘23 on the crease for the Rams’ 10th goal. Freel ‘23 followed that with his fourth of the day off a Tommy Gies ‘23 dish on another faceoff win. The Falcons stopped the bleeding with a goal to make it 11 - 7 but a nifty behind the back pass from Jack Freel ‘23 to a cutting PJ Cunningham ‘24 took the Prep lead once again to five. One more from Freel ‘23 at 3:22 remaining and St. Joe’s a minute later left it a 13 - 8 game after three quarters. A bullet each from Hudson Pifer ‘23 and Lewis Moore ‘23 and another goal from Jack Freel ‘23 extended the Ram lead to 16 - 8 with six minutes to go. A St. Joe’s goal at 4:22 cut the lead to seven but Gunnar Leonard ‘23’s first career goal with 3:22 left in the game put the punctuation mark on the 17 - 9 victory.

Stat Line: Freel ‘23 6G/3A, Moore ‘23 4G. Cunningham ‘24 1G/3A, Pifer ‘23 2G, English ‘23 1G/1A, Davis ‘24 2A, O’Leary ‘23 1G, Leonard ‘23 1G, Spring ‘24 1G, Gies ‘23 1A, Lalonde ‘25 9 saves