Soccer Rams and Lady Rams kick off fall season on right foot but with ball taking different bounces
September 11, 2024 at 10:43 p.m.
The Rams’ and Lady Rams’ fall soccer season kicked off with different kinds of bounces—a tie and a close loss for the Rams and a scrimmage win for the Lady Rams followed by two canceled and rescheduled games because the opposing teams didn't have enough girls to play.
Veteran John Cafaldo's soccer Rams opened with two games against two of the league's better teams and more than held their own—senior midfielder Marcos Barajas scored first against New Rochelle away only to have New Ro come back to tie the game 1-1 a few minutes later. And that was all the scoring in that game last Friday (9/6).
Then the Rams lost a tough 2-1 game to up-county powerhouse Roy C. Ketcham at home Monday (9/9) with senior midfielder David Dolores scoring the Rams’ only goal.
Rams on young side
Those two games hinted at what lies ahead for the Rams—closely fought games that could go either way.
That means senior goalkeepers Sebastian Sanchez and Pedro Barrena and junior Matthew Ceja and senior co-captains Wali Imafidon and Alexander Villa will have to up their leadership game, Imafidon on defense and Villa from the forward position if the Rams are going to have a winning season with what is essentially a young team.
Port Chester senior midfield Brayan Lapoyeu dribbles past a Ketcham defender during the teams’ Monday, Sept. 9 game.By Joseph DeCarlo
But young and old, Cafaldo and his Rams have their collective eye on a run deep into the playoffs and that's a lot of eyes because the Rams have more than 90 players out for the varsity, the most of any Port Chester team.
Lady Rams’ quick scores
Danny Alvarado's Lady Rams got off to a different kind of start—they won their opening scrimmage against Peekskill 4-1 with Peekskill taking a 1-0 lead at the end of the first half after opening the game with a quick score off a penalty kick. But the Rams came storming right back in the second half with a tying opening goal from Kelly Mendoza followed in rapid succession by goals from Britney Larossa, Gioiella Pastena (on a penalty kick) and 8th grader Valeria Torres making her varsity debut.
The games ahead
But after that, the Lady Rams had their next two games canceled because their rival teams didn't have enough girls to play, so those games have been rescheduled for later in the season. That means the Lady Rams will open their season Saturday (9/14) at 11 a.m. against East Ramapo at home. And with 61 players out for the varsity, the second most of any Port Chester team, Alvarado also has the numbers in his team's favor.
The soccer Rams will play Clarkstown South at home Friday (9/13) at 4:30 p.m. and hopefully have better luck than they did in their first two games because Friday the 13th is a traditionally unlucky day. But Rams soccer, with Port Chester's heavy Latino population making it the area's most popular sport, is used to working hard to make their own luck and Cafaldo's well-conditioned teams almost always make a run deep into the playoffs. Alvarado’s Lady Rams are looking to do the same thing as well.
Comments:
You must login to comment.