Rams Return from Florida Trip, Face Poly Prep and Riverdale CDS This Week
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For the second week in a row Fordham had a game canceled, this time due to the CHSAA blocking the game versus Greenwich Country Day for a reason we’re still scratching our head about. However, the team had a great few days down in Florida playing two games and attending the Marlins game. Even a hectic few hours at the airport with canceled flights and rebookings couldn’t damper the overall experience the players and coaches had on their Spring trip down south. Kudos to the coaches and Director of Operations Guy Corcoran for handling the situation and getting everyone home quickly.
The Prep lost its opener in Miami, falling behind in the first half to Belen Jesuit 3 - 0 and running into a hot Wolverine goalie who finished the day with 18 saves. Belen had more success with its possessions while the Rams just couldn't find the back of the net and never got closer than three goals, until the last two minutes of the game. Fordham outshot the Wolverines 35 to 22 and won the groundball battle, but even after scratching back in the second half the boys ran out of clock in a 6 - 4 final. Feeling more settled in the Florida sunshine, and shaking off the travel rust and Monday's loss, the Rams opened up with more fire at Christopher Columbus High School on Wednesday. James Spring ‘24 (Bronxville) continued his dominance at the faceoff X (15/20 in the game) in a back and forth game where the Rams led by one at the half and both teams traded goals down the stretch before PJ Cunningham ‘24 (Bronx) scored the game winner as time ran out.
This week the Rams face Poly Prep and Riverdale Country Day School. Poly Prep comes into the contest at 2 - 1 with victories over Curtis High School and Dalton, and a 14 - 12 loss to Greenwich Country Day (who apparently they are allowed to play). The Blue Devils were an annual opponent back in the pre-CHSAA days when the Prep was in the NYC Metro League, but this is the first time the Rams have faced Poly Prep since 2007 and 2005, both one goal victories by Poly. Riverdale Country Day School is 2 - 0 with dominant 9 - 1 and 11 - 0 wins over Taravella (FL) and Dalton. Fordham beat Riverdale 10 - 4 last season and have won the past three games against the Falcons dating back to 2008.
Congrats to James Corasaniti ‘18 on scoring his first college goalie goal, as well as registering a season high 17 saves, in Providence’s 15 - 12 victory over Stephen Zupicich ‘19 and Villanova. You can see his goal (here).
Belen Jesuit Recap: L 6 - 4
Both teams started off the game with several minutes long possessions but couldn’t get a score as both teams kept giving the ball back with unforced errors. The Rams had several good looks at the goal but the Wolverine goalie was a wall picking up eight saves in the quarter. Belen finally broke the ice at 1:07 left on a man-up possession taking a 1 - 0 lead into the second quarter. A second man-up opportunity allowed Belen to go up 2 - 0 and another tally at 7:18 left took the lead to 3 - 0. The Rams answered 30 seconds later on a restart as PJ Cunningham ‘24 drove from behind the cage past GLE and cranked a low shot in. The Prep offense continued to struggle but the Ram defense did a good job shutting down the Wolverines for the remainder of the half until Belen snuck one in with 37 seconds left to go up 4 - 1 at the half.
The Wolverines extended the lead to four 2:14 into the third quarter and both teams battled over the next nine plus minutes, with the Belen goalie continuing to have the Rams’ locked down with four more saves. But as time wound down Cunningham ‘24 called his own number and took the ball to the cage from up top, scoring with 2.1 seconds left and cutting the lead to 5 - 2. Belen responded in short order on its next possession to make it a four goal spread again, but Cash Berner ‘27 (Rye) made a couple saves to keep the Rams within four when Cunningham ‘24 muscled down the alley and scored with a sidearm blast at 7:09 left. The Wolverines did a solid job burning clock on their remaining possessions, not allowing the Rams to get back in it. A Ryan Bracchitta ‘27 (Rye) score with 2:36 left in the game was all they could muster for a 6 - 4 final.
Stat Line: Cunningham ‘24 3G/2GB, Bracchitta ‘27 1G, Spring ‘24 9FOW (82%)/8GB, Zarkowski ‘25 3GB, Brock ‘25 3GB, Berner ‘27 10 saves
Christopher Columbus Recap: W 10 - 9
James Spring ‘24 won the opening faceoff and Drew Pagen ‘26 (Rye) put the Rams on the board 1 - 0 with a sharp drive from behind the cage. The teams traded goals after that with PJ Cunnngham ‘24 netting the next three Prep goals with some strong inside/outside dodges. Before the half, the Rams pushed to a 7 - 5 lead on goals by Sebastian Zarkowski ‘25 (Hastings-on-Hudson), Spring ‘24, and Dima Athanson ‘26 (Mamaroneck). Columbus scored right before halftime, and Fordham led 7 - 6 at the break.
The defenses tightened up in the second half (heat may have also been a factor) until Spring ‘24 put the Rams ahead 8 - 7 only to see Columbus score again. Ryan Bracchitta ‘27 facedodged two defenders to put the Rams ahead 9 - 8, but Columbus answered quickly to tie the game at 9 - 9. The Rams stopped a Columbus man-up with less than two minutes in the game, and Bobby Brock ‘25 (Valhalla) corralled a ground ball under duress and cleared it with 45 seconds left. After several errant shots, PJ Cunningham ‘24 took the ball inbounds with eight seconds left, ran across the backside of the goal and beat several defenders to score as time ran out. Rams win an exciting one, 10 - 9.
Stat Line: Cunningham ‘24 4G/2A, Spring ‘24 2G/2A/15FOW (75%), Zarkowski ‘25 1G/2A, Pagen ‘26 1G, Athanson ‘26 1G, Bracchitta ‘27 1G, Leddy ‘24 1A