Fordham’s Dylan Cope had the game’s first goal (William Thomas)
Tuesday’s loss to Archbishop Molloy really got under the skin of Fordham Prep players. Not only did the Rams lose crucial points, the Stanners are one of their biggest rivals and won the game in the closing seconds on a stunning counterattack — in The Bronx, no less.
It doesn’t take much for Fordham to get up to play archrival Iona Prep anyway. But that extra incentive – anger, even – made things almost look easy in a 3-0 Rams rout Thursday in CHSAA Class AA boys soccer in New Rochelle. Fordham (6-1-3) poured all of its goals in during the first 17 minutes of the game.
“We kind of came in here [ticked] off,” Rams forward Gaetano Taormina said. “We knew that these were points that we needed to win, because we dropped points against Molloy. We just came in here really motivated to get the win.”
Dylan Cope, who played forward rather than his usual center midfield, had the game’s first goal in the seventh minute. Taormina put in a cross from Sebastian Palomino in the 11th minute and six minutes later sophomore Richard Moessner struck from 15 yards.
It was a stunning output for Fordham, which has tied Iona four of the last five times the teams have played. One of those games was a Fordham victory in penalty kicks in the 2010 Archdiocesan final. The other, Iona won 1-0 in the CHSAA Class AA city championship game last year.
“It’s been some of these epic games the last couple years,” Rams coach Pete McNamara said. “This is just something they wanted. It’s been a long time coming for some of them.”
Iona Prep (7-2-2) had a severely depleted backline. Star defender Felix Abongo injured his ankle last week against St. Francis Prep and is out another few weeks. Michael Izzo picked up a red card in that game and will return Tuesday. Quinn Hefferon, a defensive-minded midfielder, might have mono and there’s no timetable for his return.
If that wasn’t bad enough, Boston College-bound keeper Alex Kapp came out midway through the first half with a quad injury. Iona coach Marcos Monteagudo said he wasn’t sure how long the league’s best goalie will be out. The only positive to be taken from Thursday was fighting to keep it just 3-0 and the play of sophomore Brandon Standard, up from the JV, who will likely step in at right back.
“I think our injuries hurt us today, not to take anything away from Fordham Prep – they’re a real, real good team,” Monteagudo said. “We know when healthy we can compete a lot better than we did today. I think the second half showed that these kids have a lot of heart.”
Fordham showed guts, too, by bouncing back from the Molloy loss. But there was certainly technique and planning involved, not just emotion. Mark Kramarchuk moved back to sweeper and did a solid job on Iona Prep star striker Cesar Ceja, Palomino and Greg McNamara were excellent in the midfield and Mark Rajovic picked up the clean sheet in net. Cope’s presence up top was perhaps the biggest catalyst.
“I’m actually a center midfielder, but wherever he puts me I’ll play,” Cope said. “It happens to be forward, because we don’t have a true forward. I’m happy up there. We’re playing well together when I’m up there.”
It’s hard to argue with that after Thursday.