Prep Beats Trinity, CHSAA Foe Stepinac Up Next
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The Prep took home a victory against Trinity, 13 - 6, before heading off later in the week on their Spring Break trip to North Carolina. The Rams used a strong first quarter to put away Trinity, dominating on groundballs, faceoffs, rides, and possession. Fordham built a 12 - 0 lead in the first half and never looked back. PJ Cunningham ‘24 (Bronx) notched seven goals in the first half and matched the goal scoring record (as far as our record books go back) Thomas Marra ‘18 (7G/1A) achieved in 2018 versus St. John the Baptist (recap). Congrats to Cunningham ‘24 and Charlie English ‘23 (Port Chester) who notched their 50th career points in the win against the Tigers, as well as Rory McGrath ‘25 (Rye), who tallied his first career point in the game.
The boys headed down to North Carolina later in the week to play reigning North Carolina state champions, The Cannon School. It wasn’t all lacrosse as the team spent some bonding time eating BBQ and visiting the NASCAR Museum in Charlotte. On the field, the Rams found themselves in a 4 - 0 hole to start the game, but scratched back outplaying the Cougars in the second and third quarters to get within two at 8 - 6 after three quarters. Cannon did a good job burning down the clock in the fourth quarter with long possessions and not giving the Rams offensive opportunities. Unfortunately, that was the closest the Prep got as Cannon took the 12 - 7 victory.
The Rams will visit CHSAA foe Stepinac on Thursday followed by a home game versus Hackley on Saturday. Fordham lost both games to Stepinac last year including the Crusaders ending the Rams’ season in the CHSAA semi-finals. Stepinac is 5 - 1 with a 5 - 4 win over then nationally ranked #25 Don Bosco (NJ) and its lone loss is to current #1 nationally ranked St. Anthony’s 16 - 4. The Prep is looking to avenge a 13 - 12 season opening loss last year to Hackley. The Hornets are 3 - 2 including a 4 - 1 victory against common opponent Trinity.
Trinity Recap: W 13 - 6
The Prep started right out of the gate as PJ Cunningham ‘24 scored on a fast break off the opening faceoff. The Rams took the lead to 2 - 0 off a Hudson Pifer ‘23 (Croton-on-Hudson) lefty rip from up top at 3:30 in and extended it to four on their next two possessions as Cunningham ‘24 had a hat trick at six minutes left in the quarter. The Prep defense yielded nothing on two Tiger possessions and Jack Freel ‘23 (Manhattan) found Cunningham ‘24 again, cutting from up top for a quick stick goal to make it 5 - 0 with three minutes remaining. James Spring ‘24’s (Bronxville) work at the faceoff X, winning 5 of 7 in the quarter, kept possessions with the Rams and a minute later Tommy Gies ‘23 (Rye) found a wide open Pifer ‘23 on the crease bringing the tally to 6 - 0. The Prep took a 7 - 0 lead into the second quarter following Rory McGrath ‘25 assisting Pifer ‘23 on his second goal.
Less than a minute into the second quarter Cunningham ‘24 notched his fifth off a rebound from the Trinity goalie and scored his sixth off a coast-to-coast clear by Charlie English ‘23 at 8:32 to go and bring the lead to 9 - 0. Cunningham ‘24 then got on the giving side of things, dropping a pass on the crease to Freel ‘23 to make it 10 - 0. At 2:13 Cunningham ‘24 lit the lamp for his seventh of the game with a low shot that snuck by the Trinity keeper's foot in the corner of the cage. Freel ‘23 took the Ram lead to 12 - 0, but Trinity won the ensuing faceoff and got on the board with a pole goal. Another quickly after from the Tigers made it 12 - 2 at the half.
Pifer ‘23 extended the Prep lead to 13 - 2 early in the second half and then the Rams took the foot off the gas, opting to work the ball around on offense versus shooting and dialing back the aggressiveness on defense. This allowed the Tigers some opportunities in the second half and they were able to score five additional goals to make the contest end at a 13 - 6 final.
Stat Line: Cunningham ‘24 7G/1A/3GB, Pifer ‘23 4G, Freel ‘23 2G/2A, English ‘23 3A/3GB, Gies ‘23 1A/5GB, McGrath ‘25 2A/3GB, Spring ‘24 1A/11FOW (79%)
Cannon Recap: L 12 - 7
After an initial long possession by the Rams came up empty handed Cannon broke the ice, scoring at just under three minutes in and followed it up thirty seconds later to take a 2 - 0 lead. The Cougars kept a handle on possession and added a third goal at the midway point of the quarter and a man up tally to make it 4 - 0. The Prep got on the board off a restart from behind as Jack Freel ‘23 got above GLE and dumped it in, and then cut the lead to two with under a minute left on a rocket to the top corner from Charlie English ‘23. A goal by Cannon with nine seconds remaining made it 5 - 2 but Tommy Gies ‘23 won the ensuing faceoff to start a fastbreak to PJ Cuningham ‘24 who found Freel ‘23 to make it 5 - 3 with three seconds left.
Cannon got a man up opportunity early in the second quarter and took advantage bringing the score to 6 - 3 and then 7 - 3 at 10:34 remaining. The Prep defense did a solid job keeping the Cougars off the board over the next nine minutes, but Cannon snuck one in at 1:30 left to expand the lead to five. The Rams responded immediately with Hudson Pifer ‘23 sweeping from up top and finding PJ Cunningham ‘24 just above GLE who fired it into the back of the net to make it 8 - 4. The Prep got another late possession and Cunningham ‘24 delivered again with ten seconds left to cut the lead to 8 - 5 at the half.
The Rams defense did a great job of shutting down the Cougars’ offense in the third quarter, leaving them scoreless, but the Prep offense couldn’t cut the lead until a man up goal at 1:08 left made it 8 - 6 through three quarters. A minute and a half into the fourth quarter Cannon notched a goal to bring it to 9 - 6 and did a solid job holding onto possession adding another at 7:14 before the Prep notched its last goal at 3:39 to make it a 10 - 7 game. Two late goals, including an empty netter when the Rams were in a ten man ride, brought the contest to a 12 - 7 final.
Stat Line: Cunningham ‘24 4G/1A, Freel ‘23 2G/2A, English ‘23 1G/1A, Lalonde ‘25 12 saves