Rams and Lady Rams soccer and Vballers gear up in unpredictable race to the finish

October 12, 2023 at 1:08 a.m.

Daniela Lopez maintains possession as she attempts to lead the Lady Rams soccer team to victory over White Plains on Tuesday, Oct. 10 at home. (Lennon Anderson/Westmore News)

The large round ball took some unpredictable bounces with wildly varying results for the soccer Rams and Lady Rams and the Lady Ram volleyballers during the past week or so.

     

Rams head coach John Cafaldo's soccer Rams, for example, played to a 0-0 tie against the same Scarsdale B team that Blind Brook beat 8-1 which tells you something about the up and down Port Chester team. Because the Rams played like a very different team when they then came back to reverse two previous losses, beating Fox Lane 1-0 on Thursday, Oct. 5 with Nick Tellez scoring the only goal. And next they wound up winning a shoot out against Horace Greeley 4-2 Sunday, Oct. 8, with goals coming from Daniel Cruz, Julian Lopez, Christian Antunez and Tellez. Brayan Lapoyeu and Ramaul Morgan had assists.

Honor the seniors

Veteran head coach Danny Alvarado's soccer Lady Rams alas continued their losing ways, dropping a 2-1 overtime loss to Arlington B, losing to Fox Lane 2-0 and getting rained out against Hamilton last Saturday (10/7), but that day wasn't a total loss because they still held a senior ceremony inside the gym honoring captains Sophia Maldonado, Samantha (Sam) Munoz and Valeria Novoa as well as the other talented seniors: Evelyn Aguilar, Yareli Cruz, Deisy Herrera, Ariana Llanos and Taby Sanchez.

      

Meanwhile, new head coach Stephanie Costabile's high-flying volleyballers went into the week as Port Chester's winningest team buoyed by the play of eighth grader Juliana Luzzi, sophomore Skylar Sams and junior Nataly Suertegaray and proceeded to lose a deuce in 3-0 shutouts by Fox Lane and Horace Greeley.

The sked ahead

Hopefully the ball will take some better bounces for the local teams in their upcoming games in an unpredictable race to the finish line of the regular season.

The Vballers are scheduled to play Ossining and White Plains away Thursday (10/12) and Saturday (10/14) at 4:30 p.m. and 11 a.m. respectively. That will be followed by Fox Lane at home Monday (10/16) at 5 p.m. and Greeley away Wednesday (10/18) at 4:30 p.m. Those four teams have all beaten the Lady Rams earlier in the season so the local Vballers will be looking for pay back.

     

The soccer Lady Rams will be looking to get back on track in two away games against Ossining Thursday (10/12) at 4:30 p.m. and Greeley Saturday (10/14) at 11 a.m., hopefully with an upset in the making because they lost to both teams earlier in the season.

And Cafaldo has to be wondering whether his good or bad soccer Rams will show up for their last two regular season games against White Plains at home Friday (10/13) at 4:15 p.m. and Eastchester away Saturday (10/14) at 9 a.m. After that, who knows, because the playoffs loom with the soccer Rams traditionally fast closers, the Lady Rams always a threat (especially when junior Gioiella Pastena, one of the captains, is on her game) and the VBallers an unknown quantity but a mostly pleasant surprise so far this season. But you have to be in it to win it, and all three local teams have a shot, long though it may be.

    Smiles all around as seniors, from left, Deisy Herrera, Sophia Maldonado, Samantha Munoz, Taby Sanchez, Yareli Cruz, Ariana Llanos and Valeria Novoa say goodbye to their home field for the last four years after Tuesday’s game.
 By Lennon Anderson