The extremely intense rematch between the #1 ranked team in New Jersey, the St. Benedict’s Prep Gray Bees, and the #6 ranked team in New Jersey, the St. Peter’s Prep Marauders took place September 25. Last year’s meeting between the rivals, ended with a last-second goal by now alum Felix Agyemang ’24 which secured a crucial win for the Gray Bees ending in a score of 3-2. With both St Peter’s Prep and St. Benedict’s Prep still holding onto their undefeated records, this matchup was highly anticipated by both teams and fans alike.
The game was intense from the opening pitch, which led to multiple collisions between the players on both sides. St Peter’s Prep came into this game looking for revenge, and they were able to apply extraordinary pressure to the Gray Bee’s high-powered offense led by Captain Kwaku Agyebeng ’25. As the game progressed, both teams were able to form shots, but none were able to find the back of the net. Benedict’s goalie Victor Laracca ‘25, and St.Peter’s Prep goalie Anthony Novello ’26 displayed their prolific goalkeeping abilities. Captain Baden Wandling ‘25, and Captain Gianni Rosario ‘25 also played significant roles in the Gray Bee’s defensive effort.
The Gray Bees were finally able to find a crease in the Marauder’s Defense, with Agyebeng leading the attack with outstanding footwork. Even with the efforts from both teams the score remained tied 0-0.
Coming into the second half, both teams remained high-spirited as they searched for their first goal to break the ice. With that, the Gray Bees began to struggle to score. Those struggles led to a lot of missed opportunities by the Gray Bees to seal this game. The game then took a dramatic turn when St Peter’s Prep goalie Novello collided with Raymond Diouf ’26 which sparked a huge dispute between the two benches due to all the back and forth. It resulted in St. Peter’s Prep goalie, Novello, being forced to sub out, which was a huge loss for the Marauder’s defense. Despite the change, the Gray Bees continued to miss scoring opportunities, and the Marauders were able to take advantage of the shortcomings of the Gray Bees and were able to form a great offensive attack. This led to an impressive goal for the Marauders. They started to celebrate what they thought to be a dramatic game-changer and potentially the game-winning goal but unfortunately for the Marauders, the goal was eventually ruled offside.
The Gray Bees decided to take matters into their own hands, and in the last couple minutes of the game, the Gray Bees were able to march down the field and pull off a spectacular finish to end the game. Raymond Diouf ’26 scored an electrifying goal, with an elite assist from Agyebeng.
After this intense game, Victor Laracca ’25 spoke about the Gray Bees’ looking to gain back that momentum after having a long break,
“10 days off is a lot, especially when we built a lot of momentum at the beginning of the season, beating St. Ignatius, beating Chaminade, two top 25 ranked teams in the country. Losing that momentum doesn’t help but it also gives us rest to find ourselves as a team even more. We still have guys that are hurt and we are not at our best yet, and it’s going to be scary when we find out how we are at our best.”
The Gray Bees are still undefeated and looking to bring back multiple trophies to the hive. These two rivals could see each other again as the Gray Bee’s and St Peter’s Prep are in the same division, with that being the North Jersey Non-Public A. Which team will be able to learn from their mistakes in this match, and come out victorious?
The Gray Bees will be back in action on Saturday, September 28, 2024, at 1:00 pm at Bellville High School in Belleville, NJ.
