Final cuts come down to the last scrimmage as soccer Rams heat up for new fall season
September 6, 2023 at 11:34 p.m.
The soccer Rams season opener was moved back a day—and maybe longer— from its scheduled fall season home opener Tuesday (9/5) against Spring Valley due to the heat and the New York State Public High School Athletic Association's (NYSPHSAA’s) heat index policy, according to James Ryan, athletic director for the Port Chester School District.
But the Rams took it all in stride because they have already been engaged in a Darwinian survival of the fittest just to make the varsity because the 32 players on the roster represent the best of a record 116 who tried out for the team.
The stacked roster
The final selections resulted in a roster stacked with 17 seniors, 15 juniors and no underclassmen.
Key returnees include such talented players as Nick Tellez, Ramaul Morgan, Julian Lopez, Andrew Palacios and Jonathan Bautista.
Other potential starters include Alexander Villa, Christian Antunez, Jostin Gualipa, Brayan Lapoyeu, Bayron Aguirre and Wali Imafidon.
But the final cuts came down to the precious few right up to the final days of practice. 
The final Port Chester boys’ varsity soccer team is made up only of upperclassmen, including senior Julian Lopez, a key returnee.
By Joseph DeCarlo
Whether you are a pro, college or high school coach, it doesn't get any easier no matter what your level of experience.
So it was ultra difficult for Rams head soccer coach John Cafaldo and assistant coach Steven Hernandez to call out the names of the five final players to lose out in the last cuts.
The swagger & tears
Cafaldo, the current winningest active coach at Port Chester, and Hernandez, one of the best players in Rams history, talked to each one of those players individually, telling them as kindly as possible they were good players but they wouldn't make the varsity, looking down as the individuals walked away, the kid in the Port Chester University T-shirt trying to swagger, the kid in the Emirates sweatshirt looking as though he was trying to hold back tears.
"We had to cut down by assessing the players' skills over six days of tryouts on both the varsity and junior varsity levels," Cafaldo said afterwards.
The record numbers
Making those hard choices became even harder because the Rams had a record number of players trying out for the team, that number reflecting Port Chester's high Latino population at a school where soccer is king.
Cafaldo, who has led the Rams to within one goal of its first ever state championship in any sport, was looking for another potential Hernandez who led that 2012 team during a career that made him the all-time Port Chester leader in scoring and assists, earning him All-State recognition on his way to becoming a collegiate All-American at American International University. Hernandez also had a brief fling with the pros before deciding to come home to start a coaching career.
Scrimmages tell story
Hernandez, who speaks Spanish, was relating to the players in a way only a Latino could truly understand.
So both coaches were thinking long and hard about the choices they had to make before the final cuts.
"We had to extend the varsity cuts for a few tryouts to see players in game situations," Cafaldo said, referring to the scrimmages played against Nyack, White Plains and Rye Country Day School leading up to the Rams fall season opening home game that was canceled due to the heat.
May add JV B team
"We look like we will be carrying in the upper 20s to low 30s on our varsity and JV rosters," Cafaldo said.
There is also the possibility of adding a JV B team as well to give more players a shot at playing high school ball at a high level, he said, adding that "we are hoping that our JV B team will soon be in effect so that we can get another 25 or so players getting game experience at the high school level."
But as of now, the varsity roster looks loaded with experienced soccer talent.
Lots of talent
The seniors, for example, include Jason and Johaal Espinal, Jeremy Salazar, Juan, Jorge and Julian Lopez, Pedro Goncalves, Kevin Pintado, Joseph Alvarez, Brendan Lalvay, David Gonzalez, Aidan Espinosa, Bautista, Aguirre, Tellez and Morgan.
The juniors include Sebastian Sanchez, Daniel Cruz, Ivan Henao, Enrique Farias, Alex Sigua, Gezer Cruz, Denilson Suhul, Marcos Barajas, Zahid Cardenas, Giovanni Arrequin, Imafidon, Lapoyeu, Wali, Gualipa and Villa.
There figures to be a lot going on competitively on the high school pitch leading up to that opener against Spring Valley after press time Wednesday (9/6, weather permitting) with the next games coming in rapid succession. They include an away game Thursday (9/7) at 4:45 p.m. against Roy C. Ketcham and the season's first home night game Saturday (9/9) at 6 p.m. By then, again weather permitting, Cafaldo, Hernandez and the Rams will have a better idea as to what all those record-breaking tryout numbers add up to. Hopefully that bottom line will include winning teams on every level.
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