May
23, 2005
FRANKLIN LAKES -- It has been a tough stretch of road for the Ramapo boys lacrosse team the past few weeks. An uncharacteristic string of five losses in the last six games and 6 of 8 after a 9-0 start had left the team a bit shaken. The one win in those last six came last Sunday in the North Jersey Lacrosse Invitational semifinals, which meant the Raiders had one more chance to right the ship prior to the upcoming state tournament.
Mission accomplished, thanks to the leadership and the fire of Shane Donlan and Chris Hogan, who wouldn't let their team be dismayed at a halftime deficit. Ramapo turned a 3-2 Cutter edge into 6-3 Raider lead in the first six minutes of the third quarter before Hogan turned in a back-breaking play late in the period, spurring Ramapo to a 14-7 win and the inaugural Invitational championship.
"We definitely needed a win, morale was near an all-time low," Ramapo head coach Greg Hudak understated. "Aside from the Ridgewood game (two weeks ago), we haven't played as a complete team in a while, and today is about as close as we've come in a bunch of games."
The Raiders (12-6) got a strong effort in their defensive end, not allowing Fair Lawn to frustrate them even when the Cutters looked to slow things down in a game that was played in a steady rain over the last three quarters.
After hogan gave Ramapo a 1-0 lead at 9:17 of the first quarter, Fair Lawn rallied for a 2-1lead by the end of the period. Gerald Fagu made the Cutters' first shot of the game count at 5:02, and Phuong Ly caromed on in off the right post on an assist from Eugene Sosnov at 3:31.
Mike Piombino extended the lead to 3-1 with five minutes left in the second quarter, and just as it seemed that Fair Lawn was picking up steam, a breakdown in front of their net allowed a Jason Rypkema shot to literally roll into an open net 16 seconds later.
Ramapo outshot the Cutters 13-8 in the opening half, but many of the shots were not of high quality.
"He was running a zone," Hudak explained, "and we've been having trouble with zones. We knew we couldn't force it against the zone, and if we took our time we'd start putting them in like we did last time."
That last time was a regular season game in which Fair Lawn (14-6) had a 4-2 halftime lead, only to end up a 10-4 loser.
Donlan and Hogan got things going, with Donlan making a neat pass to Rypkema for the tying goal at 9:34 of the third. Donlan then broke the tie with a goal at 8:01, one-timing one in at the right post off a pass across the crease from Hogan.
The Raiders continued possession, thanks to the excellent face-off work of Rich Infusino. He won 10 of 12 faceoffs over the first three quarters (Wayne Curry won two more while Infusino sat out a penalty) and Ramapo gained possession on all seven of the third quarter faceoffs.
Hogan scored at 7:02, and Infusino got the ball to Hogan on the ensuing faceoff, with Hogan feeding Rypkema for another goal just 11 seconds later.
"We knew we would be able to win this game," Donlan expressed. "Not once did any of us feel that we weren't going to win. We just had to stay poised."
Piombino got one back for Fair Lawn, converting off a nice assist from defender Tom Sina, who made a run down the right side before passing to Piombino in front. Hogan negated that one at 4:27, them made the play of the game a minute later.
On a restart, a Cutter player tried to lob the ball over Hogan's head at the midfield line. The junior went up and stole the pass, then made a run from the right side toward the goal, stuffing his fourth of the game past John Macko (10 saves).
"I thought he was going to go back to the goaltender," Hogan recalled, "but then I saw him look downfield. I just jumped and pulled the ball down and there was no one there in front of me."
"We've been very good at riding all year," Hudak said, "it's been one of our strong points, and on that one, it was just a great play by a very athletic player."
It was 8-5 after three as Piombino just beat the third quarter horn with his third of the game, but Fair Lawn took a penalty in the opening seconds of the fourth period and paid the price when Rypkema fed Donlan for a man-up goal. Matt Sissler scored off a Mike Mueller assist at 10:42 before Scott Leatham brought the Cutters within 10-6 at 9:52. Infusino then won another faceoff, this time flicking it into the air right to Donlan, who passed to Sean O'Connor in front for a goal just seven seconds after Leatham's.
Mueller (from Donlan) scored in a man-up at 8:48, and Leatham got Fair Lawn's final tally at 5:50. The Raiders closed the scoring on goals by Cory Abramson and Brian Lemery.
"After we lost to Bergen Catholic and Don Bosco, we got down," Hogan admitted, and Donlan added that, "as a senior, and I just want to finish strong and this was a chance to win the county tournament, though we would have liked to have had Ridgewood and Bergen and Bosco in it, too."
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