Despite a standout season, failing to finish has frustrated Fordham Prep all year. The Rams have no problem creating chances – their physical and speedy midfield often lives in the opposition’s third – it’s seeing the ball find the back of the net that has been the issue.
Not Tuesday afternoon.
Fordham scored early and often in a surprisingly dominant 6-1 victory over Xavier at Aviator Sports Complex in Brooklyn. Dylan Cope notched his second hat trick of the season and Mark Kramarchuk, Gaetano Taormina and junior varsity call-up Andrew Sisti also scored.
“We always create a lot of chances, but today we had a hunger to score a lot,” Cope said after the Rams avenged a season-opening draw.
With the lopsided win, the Rams moved to within a point of Iona Prep atop the CHSAA Class AA Archdiocesan with one game in hand. Fordham Prep does have to face dangerous Queens foe Christ the King on Thursday and undefeated powerhouse St. Francis Prep Friday while Iona Prep, which fell to Regis 5-0 on Tuesday, takes on Archbishop Stepinac.
“It’s a big impact of course,” Fordham Prep coach Pete McNamara said. “We still have something to play for. The kids are hungry for it.”
Cope, a senior midfielder, got the Rams off to a fast start, taking advantage of a Xavier failed clearing in the fourth minute and slipping a shot past Knights keeper James Kondrat.
“The early goal definitely helped us,” said senior midfielder Greg McNamara, the coach’s son.
Indeed. Taormina followed with his own goal in the 26th minute. Thirteen minutes after halftime, Cope struck again, outworking two Xavier defenders for a 50/50 ball and later scored on a penalty kick, right after Kramarchuk scored on his own penalty kick.
The performance was particularly impressive considering Fordham Prep was without four starters for part of the game. Midfielder Erich Eberts (knee) is out for the year, striker Jack Siebecker sat out with a broken foot, fullback Mark Higgins sat out his second game after being issued a red card last week and Sebastian Palomino sat the entire second half because of fatigue. Their replacements, however, made their absence moot.
“I played everybody on the team today – I put 20 players on the field,” Pete McNamara said. “They’re practicing well, they’re learning well and they are playing well.”
Said Greg McNamara: “We haven’t had the team at full strength all year, but once we do it’s gonna be scary.”
Fordham Prep (8-1-4), ranked fourth in the city by The Post, has gotten on a roll since a shocking, last-second 2-1 loss to Archbishop Molloy. It blanked Iona Prep and Stepinac, played Regis to a hard-fought 2-all draw, which McNamara called a “wakeup” call and then thrashed Xavier (6-5-3) on Friday.
Getting back to the city final and repeating as New York Archdiocesan champions is important, but so is finishing the regular season on top.
The Rams are two wins away.
“The division title means a lot,” Cope said. “It would take us into the city playoffs with an aura of confidence.”