Follow the NLF on Instagram, Twitter, YouTube and Facebook.
Even when St. Anthony’s (N.Y.) was down by four goals in the fourth quarter of Saturday’s top-10 showdown with Culver (Ind.), there was plenty of optimism in the stands. That optimism only picked up when the Eagles picked up a two-minute non-releasable penalty, and Friars standout sophomore Aidan Dale (Long Island Express) hammered home a stepdown to bring it to within three. St. Anthony’s got the ball back on the ensuing faceoff, and they got a glorious chance to cut it to two with all the momentum. Senior Maryland signee Danny Rooney found himself wide-open on the crease with a surefire dunk, especially for someone as talented as the four-star top-60 recruit.
Bodhi Harmon had other plans. The junior Duke commit and five-star recruit sprung in front of Rooney, denying him with arguably the best of his 18 saves on the day. Rooney’s reaction was understandably one of frustration, a microcosm of what the Friars must have felt all day while trying to solve Harmon. With that save, Harmon essentially sealed an 11-8 Culver win. It marked the Eagles’ first victory in four tries against the Friars and kept Culver perfect at 6-0.
Harmon Shuts the Door on a Friar Comeback
“I feel like as a goalie in close games, there’s always one shot or one chance that can change the game and I think that was the one,” Harmon said. “They’d been building momentum and we had a two-minute locked-in penalty, and when you can make a save like that and the defense gets a stop like that, that can take the entire breath out of the other team’s offense. When I made that save, I just thought, ‘we’ve got this in the bag.'”
Harmon started for the Eagles as a sophomore after current Virginia freshman Patrick Biese (Team 91 Long Island) tore his ACL in preseason. He was very good for Culver, but admitted to being a little bit nervous throughout the year at the prospect of being a young starter in the cage for a powerhouse program. Harmon said before the game that he felt more confident this time around, and it showed with how he played.
Elite in the Cage
The future Blue Devil, who backstopped the Colorado Kings to a pair of NLF National Championships, is extremely athletic for the position. He moves effortlessly in and out of the crease, has the poise to stare down even the best shooters in the country and doesn’t give up bad goals. Against the Friars, he was locked in from the start and had five saves in each of the first, third and fourth quarters. The Colorado native’s save on Rooney was one of maybe four or five on the doorstep, which stifled the St. Anthony’s offense.
“I think this goes back to the past two years of this rivalry,” Harmon said. “We struggled at the start and had to dig ourselves out of a hole. This year, I just took some time before the game and took two full laps around the field just thinking and clearing my mind. I know I have the talent to do it. It’s just keeping my mind clear and the second I made that first save, I knew I was going to have a day. When you get that first save under you as a goalie in a big game, it just spirals and you’re good from there.”
Culver Can Score, Too
Harmon got some help at the other end of the field, too. Fellow five-star Riley Woods (Princeton), the best lefty attackman in the junior class, missed the game with an injury. It didn’t seem to slow the Culver offense, and if anything, it made the Eagles spread the ball around more. Junior Yale commit Bryceson Lamoureux led the charge with three goals and an assist. Syracuse signee Parker Prater and standout sophomore PJ Kennedy each added a pair of tallies and four others, including Dartmouth commit Hayden Delaney (MadLax), scored once.
“We weren’t sure if Riley was going to be able to play, and he let us know Thursday that the chances were pretty low,” Prater said. “But he also said, ‘I’m not this team. I trust every one of you to go out there and make a play. That’s what we did. We believed in our group and we knew the level that we could play to. We did that and we got the win.”
Back to the Drawing Board for St. Anthony’s
Culver improved to 6-0, and at times, St. Anthony’s looked the part of a team playing in its season opener. There’s still an insane collection of talent wearing the black and gold, so nobody’s shedding any tears for the Friars. They’ll have 11 days in between games and come back with a showdown with archrival Chaminade, another team loaded with offensive weapons. The prospect of the Friars being 0-2 seems downright impossible, but they know they’ll need to be ready.
“Obviously one thing we knew we needed to work on and we have to more than ever is our clearing,” five-star senior LSM/defenseman Ethan Bramoff (Long Island Express / Maryland) said. “That really bit us in the butt early in the game. We’ve gotta slow down. First game jitters. We have to play our game and compete like we do in practice. We can play with anyone, but we didn’t do that (against Culver.)
Culver vs. St. Anthony’s Standouts
Aidan Dale ’28, midfield, St. Anthony’s (N.Y.) / Long Island Express
Speed is always the first thing that’s associated with Dale and with good reason. He is so FREAKING fast. He’s so fast he makes fast people look not fast.
So, yes, he’s fast, but there’s a lot more to love about Dale’s game. The fact that he was playing in all situations for the Friars in his first game as a sophomore tells you just about everything you need to know about his future. Dale finished with a goal and an assist – both on man-up – and you can tell that St. Anthony’s trusts him to do a lot. He initiated as a dodger, took some faceoff wings, played man-up, got back on defense at times and oh, also laid one of the biggest hits of the game when he wiped out a Culver player on a faceoff. His goal came on a stepdown from 13 or so yards out on one of the top goalies in the country. He set up five-star senior Jake Johnston (LI Express / Johns Hopkins), too. Dale’s easily one of the top sophomores in the country.
Bryceson Lamoureux ’27, midfield, Culver (Ind.) – Yale
The Ottawa (Ont.) native had one of the best goals of the day when he came down the alley, shot, caught his own rebound and hit a BTB shot in one motion. It looked entirely too easy, and it gave the Eagles a shot in the arm and a 3-2 lead after Friars goalie Dylan Rappaport had made a bunch of impressive saves to that point.
“Just trying to get the ball in the net,” Lamoureux sheepishly said. “I try to pride myself on getting those rebounds. Our whole team wants to make those gritty plays and I was just happy to put it away. We came in wanting to shoot the scout and (Rappaport) had a couple of great saves, so credit to him for that. I think we did a good job later on in the game putting the ball in the back of the net.”
Lamoureux finished with a hat trick with a couple more impressive goals, including when he inverted a D-middie and created just enough separation to snap a shot around the defender and into the net. His final tally iced the game for the Eagles when he got top side and hit a nasty high-to-high righty jumper. Lamoureux also showed some good awareness and passing ability in the two-man game, highlighted by a nifty play to set up a goal from ’27 Air Force commit Nate Zander.
Dylan Rappaport ’26, goalie, St. Anthony’s (N.Y.) / Long Island Express – Loyola
Rappaport was really the only reason why Culver didn’t build a huge lead early as the Friars struggled to keep a handle on the ball. The Loyola signee was excellent in the cage, making eight of his 12 saves in the first half. Even though he’s around 6-3, Rappaport was outstanding on low shots, showing great quickness and agility to get to tough shots from a stacked Culver offense. One save in particular was a showstopper, where Rappaport went post-to-post to take away a sure goal. He had a couple of clears that he’d like to have back. Despite that, it’s clear that Rappaport has built off of last year’s championship performance against Chaminade and he’s very comfortable being the unquestioned starting goalie for the Friars.
Parker Prater ’26, midfield, Culver (Ind.) – Syracuse
Prater broke the game open in the second quarter with back-to-back goals and both should feature prominently on his senior year highlight reel. With the Eagles up 4-3, he owned a 1v1 matchup against one of the best middies in the country and snapped home a high-to-low rip. Shortly after, he dipped under on a wing dodge and painted the far corner with a perfect shot right under the elbow. An explosive lefty, the Georgia native didn’t back down from any matchup.
“It was awesome,” Prater said. “I knew I had the shorty guarding me, so I was gonna take him immediately. When that one went in, it was huge, especially putting us up three going into half. We felt good going into the second half and we were ready for whatever they brought.”
Geoff Standfast ’28, faceoff midfield, Culver (Ind.)
One of four (!) Standfasts in the ’28 class for the Eagles, Geoff teamed up with freshman Russell Bosek (Team 91 Charlotte) at the faceoff stripe and the duo came away with solid results against a senior duo from St. Anthony’s. Standfast is a little taller than six feet, so he’s able to do some different things with his length that gave the Friars some trouble. He’s got quick hands and used his wings well, but what stood out to me the most was his footwork, toughness and willingness to make it a 3v3 ground ball. I had him down at 7-for-12 in a battle that most pregame predictions would have expected to heavily lean to St. Anthony’s. Standfast’s skill and determination at the stripe helped prevent the Friars from putting together a comeback.