Ben Andreycak has had a chip on his shoulder for the last two seasons. It just hasn’t been the same kind.
Last year the Fordham Prep attack saw his season cut short in the second league game after scoring five times in a win over Monsignor Farrell. A day later in practice he was hit, fell and brook his collarbone – ending his promising season.
“I worried about lost time last year because when I found out I was out for the season I worried about one season down, I only have two more left,” the 6-foot-1 Andreycak said. “I planned on that whole season being a great year.”
He has certainly made sure to get the current one off to fine start.
The junior is the team’s leading scoring through eight games with 27 goals and 16 assists. Andreycak, who is getting interest from Yale, has always been a strong crease attack, with the ability to find the open spot. He has expanded his game this season, attacking from behind the cage and doing a better job feeding teammates.
“It just opens up a whole bunch of things that we can do,” Rams coach Len DeLucia said.
The injury only fueled Andreycak’s drive to improve in the offseason. He needed to wait two months to play and spent most of the school season doing stats, cheering and getting his teammates water. When he got a stick back in his hands he worked on refining his game even before he was allowed to compete with his New York Hitmen travel team run by Fordham Prep assistant coach Justin Henry.
“It’s definitely showing its results,” said Andreycak, who is also a wide receiver on the school’s football team. “It’s definitely a testament to what everyone else is doing, finding me open. If Chris Smith or Matt Casella wasn’t there, I wouldn’t be able to score all those points.”
Nor would they.
Andreycak has added an explosiveness to an already potent Rams offense with Smith, Casella, Joe Regan and Chris Sullivan. Fordham Prep is off to a 6-2 start overall and 2-0 in CHSAA Class AA league play. It picked up an important 10-9 comeback win over rival Iona Prep last week. It was the Rams’ first win over the Gaels since 2006. Andreycak scored five times and Smith had three goals including the game winner with less than 2:00 to play in a game that Fordham Prep trailed 7-2 in the third quarter.
“Coming into the season we kind of expected to beat them,” Smith said. “We knew if we were going to beat them it was going to be this year.”
The road only gets tougher as the Rams prepare for the part of their schedule that includes Long Island powers Holy Trinity, Chaminade, St. Anthony’s and St. John the Baptist. It is Friday’s game against the Titans they are most interested in. Trinity knocked them out of the playoffs last season.
“I really want to beat Holy Trinity so we know that we have gotten better from last year,” DeLucia said “We stayed with them for three quarters and then they pulled it out.”
His team will certainly be better than it was last year now that Andreycak is back in the lineup. He is ready to seize any opportunity that is put in front of him.
“Last year was a rebuilding year for our team,” Andreycak said. “This year is really important because we have a real great senior class. I’m really glad to be playing with these guys again.”