Soccer Rams out in 2nd round of one-and-done playoffs
October 25, 2023 at 11:24 p.m.
It is time for the latest version of as the big round playoffs ball turns in Port Chester with the soccer Rams out in the second round and the Lady Rams volleyballers closing fast to get in with home-and-away, end-of-the-regular- season shutouts against Roosevelt to draw Mamaroneck when the VB playoffs start Tuesday (10/31).
Behind those cold facts is the story of heart ache for the Rams and promise for the Lady Rams.
The soccer Rams won their home playoff opener 1-0 last Friday (10/20) against rival White Plains, a team they beat twice by close scores earlier in the season—including beating White Plains 2-1 the last time they met with Christian Antunez scoring off an assist by Ramaul Morgan and Nicholas Tellez scoring the game winner on a free kick with just over a minute left to play in the game.
Narrow 1-0 win
So this time around it figured to be close and it was with the Rams winning 1-0 at home with Tellez scoring off an assist from Emmanuel Valdovinos while goalie Jonathan Bautista had three saves.
It figured to be the same close story when the sixth-seeded Rams tangled with second-ranked Ossining away Monday (10/23), and it was—only this time around it didn't have a happy ending for the Rams who split with Ossining during the regular season.
Bow in second half
Last time around, the Rams won 3-2 with Morgan scoring twice and Daniel Cruz once with Bayron Aguirre and Julian Lopez notching assists. But in their latest encounter against Ossining Monday , the score was tied 0-0 at the end of the first half, but it was all for nil because Ossining scored twice in the second half to win 2-0, and that was all it took to knock Port Chester out of the one-and-done playoffs.
"We took a few more injuries and couldn't get much going offensively," veteran head coach John Cafaldo said after the game. "We felt good at the half but gave up those two goals in the second half. "
The winning season
The Rams finished 10-7-1 on the season, which made it a winning one and what Cafaldo called "a great season for all. Hopefully the younger guys have learned what it is like on the varsity and our seniors had a great career to be proud of."
Those seniors deserve a farewell salute because of their solid varsity play. They include Bautista, Tellez, Morgan, Jason Espinal, Jeremy Salazar, Juan, Jorge and Julian Lopez, Pedro Goncalves, Andrew Palacios, Kevin Pintado, Joseph Alvarez, Antunez, Brendon Lalvay, David Gonzalez and Aidan Espinoza.
With a record turnout of 117 players at the start of the season, Port Chester, a soccer town, has the pipeline that could lead to an even better season next year.
Different VB story
It is a different story for Lady Rams first year volleyball coach Stephanie Costabile, a proven winner as a high school and college player who has coached the sport on a national and regional level and is now trying to build that same kind of talent feeder system in Port Chester. She has worked wonders in her debut season with her young, up-and-coming team finishing the regular season 11-9 by taking two of their last three regular season games, losing at the outset to Greeley, a team that beat them earlier in the season, 3-0 last Wednesday (10/18) by scores of 25-21, 25-18 and 25-15. But they bounced back from that shutout loss with home-and-away 3-0 shutout wins against Roosevelt.
The first shutout win over Roosevelt last Thursday (10/19) was especially sweet because it took place on Senior Day and started out with a close 25-23 win in the opening set that became a runaway with 25-18 and 25-19 wins in the second and third sets. Highlights in that match included eighth grader Julianna Luzzi coming up with 34 assists, junior Nataly Suertegaray executing 26 kills while sophomore Skylar Sams came up with 13 digs.
Honor the seniors
It was a good way for the Vballers to honor their seniors Kayla Rodriguez, Esmeralda Navarro, Yanairis Tejeda, Nataly Garcia, Katherinne Cano and Cindy Laynes.
Now it will be up to the Lady Rams as to whether they will successfully close out what has been an up-and-down October that included losses to powers including Ossining, White Plains, Fox Lane and Greeley. They will get that chance Tuesday (10/31) away against Mamaroneck at 4:30 p.m. at Mamaroneck High School, 1000 West Boston Post Rd. It will be a chance for the Vballers one-two-three punch of Luzzi, Suertegaray and Sams to continue coming of age in the one-and-done playoffs. Win or lose, it has already been a winning season. But it would be even better if they could make a playoff run.
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