Rams Beat Belen Jesuit, Fall to McQuaid Jesuit in Inaugural NY Jesuit Lacrosse Classic
/The inaugural NY Jesuit Lacrosse Classic this weekend was a great success as the Prep hosted the teams from Belen Jesuit (Miami, FL) and McQuaid Jesuit (Rochester, NY). The teams played against each other over the weekend and all three came together for a dinner at the Prep Saturday evening (see pic above). The weekend concluded with a full day of events on Sunday. Palm Sunday mass was celebrated at the University church for players, coaches, parents, and alumni, followed by brunch in the Commons before the Rams’ game against McQuaid. Former Head Coach Len DeLucia P’09 and his family were honored with a pre-game ceremony as the current team has dedicated the season in his memory. It was great to see such a large crowd of parents and alums on the sideline for the game, which had the energy of pre-COVID home games.
On the field the Rams bested Belen Jesuit on Friday 15 - 3, led by Jack O’Leary 23’s (Rye) six goals and James Spring ‘24 (Bronxville) going 14/19 on faceoffs. Against McQuaid the Prep had a 4 - 0 lead at the end of the first quarter, and 5 - 3 at the half, before the Knights stormed back in the second half to win 11 - 8 in a very physical game. From the first whistle the “long poles were laying the lumber” as we used to say back in our playing days. For you youngsters who might not know, defensemen used to use wooden shafts….and they hurt. Chippiness aside, most of the stats for the game were basically even between the teams (shots on target, faceoffs won, groundballs) but McQuaid capitalized on clearing and riding late in the game which led to more possessions and the difference in the score.
It’s a quick turnaround for the Rams as they play again tomorrow with a home matchup against St. Dominic followed by a morning game at Bronxville on Thursday. The Rams are looking to avenge a tight 9 - 8 loss last year against St. Dom’s in the rain. Before last year’s contest the Prep was 4 - 0 all time against the Bayhawks with all the games decided by three goals or less. St. Dom’s comes into the contest at 2 - 0. Bronxville was pre-season ranked in Lohud.com Boys Lacrosse Rankings and were Section 1 Class D runner-ups last year. The Broncos beat the Rams 17 - 5 last season and have won the past two meetings, while the Prep had won the two contests before that. Bronxville is 0 - 2 so far this season with a one goal loss to Lohud.com #2 ranked Scarsdale and an 11 - 4 loss to #5 Iona Prep.
The season stats are now up on the Top Corner Club website and can be found (here). The Prep coaching staff will be offering a lacrosse summer camp Monday July 10th to Wednesday July 12th for rising 6th, 7th, 8th, and 9th grade boys. You can find more details and register (here).
Belen Jesuit Recap: W 15 - 3
The Rams opened the scoring early in the first quarter when Tommy Gies ‘23 (Rye) found Jack Freel ‘23 (Manhattan) sneaking around from behind the cage to break the ice. Both defenses looked good stopping the other sides until a scrappy ground ball by Gies ‘23 led to a feed to O’Leary ‘23 for a 2 - 0 lead. A top corner rip by O’Leary ‘23 and two PJ Cunningham ‘24 (Bronx) quick sticks both from Freel ‘23 made it 5 - 0 at the end of the first quarter.
Belen scored early in the second to get on the board but Freel ‘23 answered shortly after, spinning past his defender and dumping the rock in the cage to make it 6 - 1. The Wolverines had several solid possessions in the quarter but the Rams defense shut them down until Belen was able to capitalize and cut the lead to 6 - 2 with four minutes remaining. A Gies ‘23 crank to the top corner from twelve yards out and a Cunningham ‘24 low bouncer took the lead to 8 - 2. O’Leary ‘23 then snuck one in as the quarter was ending to make it 9 - 2 at the half.
O’Leary 23’s fourth of the day opened the third quarter scoring as the Prep defensive corp of Will Muccia ‘23 (Rye), Jack Lucchese ‘24 (Somers), Michael Semprevivo ‘23 (Port Chester), and goalie Trey Lalonde ‘25 (New Fairfield) continued to shut down the Belen offense. One more from Gies ‘23 off a Charlie English ‘23 (Port Chester) feed brought the tally to 11 - 2. O’Leary ‘23’s fifth of the game closed out the third quarter 12 - 2. O’Leary ‘23, English ‘23, and Will Leddy ‘24 (White Plains) tallies extended the lead early in the fourth quarter until Belen eventually netted its third goal to make it a 15 - 3 final.
Stat Line: O’Leary ‘23 6G/4GB, Freel ‘23 2G/4A/3GB, Cunningham ‘24 3G/2A, Gies ‘23 2G/3A/4GB/3FOW (100%), English ‘23 1G/3A/4GB, Leddy ‘24 1G, McGrath ‘25 1A, Spring ‘24 8GB/14FOW (74%), Lucchese ‘24 4GB, Lalonde ‘25 7 saves
McQuaid Jesuit Recap: L 11 - 8
The Rams went man down early but stopped the Knights on the man up, as well as on their next few possessions, but the McQuaid goalie made four nice saves to keep the game scoreless midway through the first quarter. With just under six minutes left Jack Freel ‘23 came up with a loose ball behind the cage and found a cutting Jack O’Leary ‘23 to break the ice and put the Rams up 1 - 0. A minute later it was Freel ‘23 who found the back of the net sweeping around from behind, and Charlie English ‘23 made it 3 - 0 off a spinning no-look shot from ten yards out. O’Leary ‘23 followed up shortly with his second of the day and the Rams defense ended the quarter stopping McQuaid on its possession.
The Knights had a solid look early in the second off a fast start fast break but Trey Lalonde ‘25 stoned the McQuaid shooter on the doorstep. But the Knights got on the board on their next possession to cut the lead to 4 - 1 with ten minutes in the half, and followed it up with another a minute later to make it 4 - 2. But on the ensuing possession Jack Freel ‘23 found PJ Cunningham ‘24 on the crease who snuck it past the Knights’ goalie. McQuaid answered immediately to bring the score to 5 - 3 where it ended at the half.
The momentum continued for the Knights in the second half as they opened the third quarter scoring on their first possession and notched another to tie it up at 5 - 5 at the twelve minute mark. The Rams hit two pipes but couldn’t manage to find the back of the net while McQuaid took the lead at 8:42 and added one more on the next possession. Things then started to get chippy and the flags started flying as Jake Freel ‘23 took his defender up high from behind the cage and ripped one to cut the Knights lead to 7 - 6. A tally by McQuaid right after brought the deficit back to two as the third quarter ended.
Solid goalkeeping in the fourth kept the Rams off the board as McQuaid dropped four straight to extend its lead to 11 - 6 with around eight minutes to play. Relentless riding and groundballs by the Knights kept the ball in their offensive side and helped them keep possession for 70% of the quarter. The Rams defense was able to shut down the Knights offense but late goals from PJ Cunningham ‘24 and Jack O’Leary ‘23 weren’t enough as time ran out on the Prep and McQuaid took home the 11 - 8 victory.
Stat Line: O’Leary ‘23 3G, Freel ‘23 2G/1A, Cunningham ‘23 2G, English ‘23 1G/5GB, Pifer ‘23 1A, Gies ‘23 4GB, Gibson ‘25 3GB, SPring ‘24 8FOW/4GB, Lalonde ‘25 10 saves