For 80 minutes, it was The Alex Kapp Show.
Balls lofted into the box, breakaways, crosses – the Iona Prep keeper got to everything. The two 10-minute overtime sessions and penalty kicks belonged to Mark Rajovic, Fordham Prep’s keeper and a friend of Kapp’s.
The Rams happily accepted the tradeoff.
Rajovic was brilliant in extra time and the shootout, lifting Fordham Prep to its second straight CHSAA Archdiocesan title, 3-2 in penalty kicks, at Murphy Field on the campus of Fordham University on Wednesday evening.
“It’s a great accomplishment for these kids,” Fordham Prep coach Pete McNamara said. “Winning this championship puts us in the driver’s seat [for the intersectional playoffs]. But more than that, they all wanted to win the Archdiocese.”
The title earns Fordham an invite to the CHSAA state tournament if another Archdiocesan team doesn’t win the intersectional tournament. The Rams meet Regis in the intersectional quarterfinals Saturday at SUNY Maritime.
Rajovic turned away Iona’s Stephen Elias from point-blank range in the first overtime and stopped shots from Felix Abongo, Francesco Russo and Cesar Ceja in penalty kicks, setting off a raucous on-field celebration as the pro-Fordham crowd stormed the pitch.
“He steps up to the challenge, he’s a game player,” McNamara said. “I know what he’s capable of. … This is his moment to shine and he shone. It was a tremendous effort.”
Kapp and Rajovic are close – they both play academy ball with FC Westchester – and workout together. They are also similar in that the two are undersized goalies who get the most out of their length. Rajovic said he would speak to Kapp eventually about the win and the presence of his good friend did serve as motivation.
“He makes you step up your game,” the sophomore said.
Without Kapp, Iona wouldn’t have reached overtime. The 5-foot-8 Boston College-bound keeper was beyond brilliant, turning away one excellent chance after another and nullifying Fordham’s aerial attack in the box. Kapp stopped Liam Gallagher’s chance in the 70th minute with a sliding save and he smothered an all-alone Richard Moesner attempt in front in the 71st minute, among other impressive stops.
“He’s a stud – he’s clearly the best goalie [in the league],” Iona Prep coach Marcos Monteagudo said. “We love having him.”
He was unable to repeat his brilliance in the shootout, beaten by Greg McNamara, Mark Kramarchuk and Sebastian Palomino. Dylan Cope missed his attempt, shooting high.
Monteagudo was pleased with his team’s performance, minus the injured Ceja during regulation and the two overtimes, but was upset with the match’s location. Despite being the top seed, he felt like the Gaels (9-3-2) were the visitors, being that the match is played adjacent to Fordham Prep on the Rose Hill campus of Fordham University.
He said the crowd directly affected his players during penalty kicks – it was loud when they shot, quiet for Fordham.
“I’ve been told they’ve been playing the game here for 25 years and my thought process is my grandfather smoked for 20 years, that doesn’t make it right,” Monteagudo said
The Rams (10-2-5), meanwhile, enter the intersectional tournament with momentum and on the opposite side of the bracket to heavy favorite St. Francis Prep. The only concern, one would think, is the team’s inability to finish. If not for five ties, the result of many missed chances, it would have run away with the division title. But McNamara isn’t overly concerned.
“I know we can generate chances, I know we can finish,” McNamara said. “We’ve scored [39] goals and allowed 10. We’ve scored a lot of goals.”