Full Slate This Week As Rams Face Riverdale CDS, Kellenberg, And Greenwich

This past week the Rams dropped both games to Iona Prep and Rye while the St. John the Baptist contest was canceled due to weather.  It’s not hard to not fall into a hole when you’re on defense 70% percent of the first quarter and 65% for the game, as the Rams found themselves against Iona Prep.  The Gaels dominated the groundballs and clearing/riding which kept the ball in their sticks and resulted in them taking over three times as many shots as Fordham.  The Prep took the early 2 - 0 lead against Rye but the Garnets came back in a very even first half to take a 9 - 7 halftime lead.  In the second half Rye took advantage of its man up situations and did a better job than the Rams of shooting on target to come away with the win.  Both games remind us of a quote we’ve heard a lot over the years, which we can’t recall exactly, or to whom it is attributed.  It’s something along the lines of “There are no losses, only learning opportunities.”  Something the Rams will hopefully understand……we’ll see Iona again in a couple weeks in the CHSAA playoffs.

The Prep has a full week ahead with three games on tap.  The Rams host Riverdale Country Day on Monday, head out to Long Island to face Kellenberg on Wednesday, and return home to play Greenwich on Saturday (Senior Day).  Riverdale, a team the Prep hasn’t played since 2009 (13 - 3 FP win), is 3 - 4 with two wins against Trinity and a loss against Hackley, both teams the Prep beat earlier in the season.  Kellenberg is 3 - 8 including 14 - 6 and 11 - 8 losses to Iona Prep and Stepinac, respectively.  The Firebirds also played #18 nationally ranked Pleasantville to a one goal loss and have won four straight against the Rams.  Greenwich is 5 - 5 with an 8 - 7 OT loss to mutual opponent Bronxville and this will be the first non-scrimmage meeting between the two programs.

It took us a week but we’ve dug into the lacrosse archives, at least as far back as we have any, and we’re calling PJ Cunningham 24’s (Bronx) eight goals against Hackley the program record.  He tops the seven goals scored by Thomas Marra ‘18 against St. John the Baptist in 2018 (recap).

Please save the date of Saturday June 3rd for the Alumni Game and Family BBQ.  Details to follow.

Iona Prep Recap: L 13 - 6

Iona gained possession first and after an initial save on its first shot, retained the ball and eventually found the back of the net a minute in.  Trey Lalonde ‘25 (New Fairfield) had two more saves before the Rams got the ball down to their offensive end, but gave it right back off an offsides call and the Gaels took advantage to make it 2 - 0.  Off the ensuing faceoff on a fast break, Tommy Gies ‘23 (Rye) dished to PJ Cunningham ‘24 who left his defender in the dust with a great dip move and bounced it in to cut the lead to 2 - 1 with nine minutes left in the quarter.  Iona did a good job of extending possessions, working the ball around tiring out the Prep defense, which resulted in three more goals.  The Rams offensive opportunities were shut out by several nice saves from the Gaels’ keeper, leading to a 5 - 1 score at the end of the first quarter.

An early goal by Iona made it 6 - 1 before the Rams answered off a Jack O’Leary ‘23 (Rye) lefty low to high goal.  Possession was more even in the second quarter but Iona was able to drop two more in while the Rams continued to be thwarted by solid goaltending, making it 8 - 2 at the half.  Iona scored the first two goals of the third quarter until the two minute mark when O’Leary ‘23, off a Gies ‘23 pass, deposited an absolute rip into the top corner from a dozen yards out, cutting the lead to 10 - 3.  Cunningham ‘24 followed that up less than a minute later, muscling through three Gael defenders mauling him to bring the score to 10 - 4 at the end of three.  The fourth quarter was back and forth with both teams trading man up goals, the Rams’ coming from Jack Freel ‘23 (Manhattan), and an O’Leary ‘23 score off a loose ball in front of the crease with 20 seconds left ending the game at 13 - 6.

State Line: O’Leary ‘23 3G, Cunningham ‘24 2G/2A, Gies ‘23 3A/2GB, English ‘23 1A, Spring ‘24 1A/6GB/12FOW, Lalonde ‘25 12 saves, Ross ‘23 5 saves

Rye Recap:  L 16 - 9

The Rams took the early lead 45 seconds in when Jack Freel ‘23 swept around from behind the goal and deposited a high bouncer in right in front of the Rye goalie’s feet.  A minute and a half later it was 2 - 0 as Freel ‘23 worked the same move drawing a triple team and dumped it off with the Rams moving the ball quickly to Jack O’Leary ‘23 who stuck it high to high.  That woke up the Garnets who held the ball for the vast majority of the rest of the quarter, scoring four in a row, until 13 seconds left when O’Leary ‘23 drew a triple team and found PJ Cunningham ‘24 open on the crease for a quickstick score.

Early in the second quarter the Rams got close hitting a pipe, and Rye extended the lead to 5 - 3 at the 10:28 mark, but a minute later Tommy Gies ‘23 drove from the top of the restraining box and cut the lead to one with a lefty shot past the keeper.  Gies’ 23 followed that up with another at 6:16 when the Rams were man up to tie it 5 - 5.  Less than a minute later Gies’ 23 dished it to O’Leary ‘23 who muscled in a score for the Rams to take the lead again 6 - 5.  But the Garnets held the ball over the next five minutes adding four straight tallies until at 43 seconds left off a restart up top, O’Leary ‘23 found Freel ‘23 sneaking under his defender cutting towards the goal to make it 9 -7, where it ended at the half.

The third quarter was sloppy as both teams found themselves man up/man down for chunks of the period with Rye taking advantage with three goals while the Rams couldn’t score with their opportunities.  Two straight by the Garnets in the fourth quarter brought it to 13 - 7 before Cunningham ‘24 netted his second off a loose ball at 5:47 remaining.  O’Leary ‘23 netted the Rams final goal with three minutes remaining to bring the tally to 14 - 9 and two late goals by the Garnets gave them the 16 - 9 win.

Stat Line:  O’Leary ‘23 3G/2A/3GB, Cunningham ‘24 2G/1A/4GB, Gies ‘23 2G/1A/5GB, Freel ‘23 2G, Pifer ‘23 1A, Moore ‘23 1A, Spring ‘24 10GB/9FOW, Lalonde ‘25 12 saves