Wednesday, November 14, 2007

By Cory K. Doviak
NJS.com Editorial Director

John Fiorenzo got Ramapo off and running with a header off a corner kick just over 16 minutes in.

OAKLAND -- Ramapo’s recent history in the Group 3 semifinal round has been one of contrasts. There have been knock-down, drag-out brawls like the back-to-back meetings against Scotch Plains-Fanwood in 2003 and 2004 and there have been comfortable wins like the conquest of West Morris Central in 2002 and last year’s two-goal victory over Holmdel.

When teams that don’t match up against each other during the regular season and have little to go by in terms of like opponents, it is never clear heading into the Final 4 just how teams are going to match up.

But it took a few minutes on Tuesday night at Indian Hills High School for it to become clear that Ramapo was the more polished side, just 16 minutes for Green Raiders and just one minute after that for the game to turn into a rout. Ramapo put three goals away in the first half, coasted to a 5-0 win over Parsippany Hills and earned a spot in the Group 3 state final for the second straight year.

John Fiorenzo got the first one on a header off a corner kick struck by Rob Santaniello and Tom Breault got the second one less than a minute later on a rip from the top of the penalty area. And just like that, the competitive portion of the game was all but over.

Tom Breault scored close on the heels of Ramapo's first goal to help break the game open.

“We were able to jump out early with two goals within a minute of each other and that was huge for us. Five-nothing is a big score in any game, but you don’t expect that in a state semifinal,” said Fiorenzo, Ramapo’s senior captain. “We set a goal at the beginning of the season that we wanted to get back to the state final and now we are there. It’s a great accomplishment, but we still have one more game to win.”

Fiorenzo, a four-year starter, has been scoring big goals for Ramapo since he first stepped on the varsity pitch.

“For four years John has been a guy that, in the air he is just so dangerous. He creates opportunities for himself and for the team,” said Ramapo head coach Evan Baumgarten. “He won many a game for us with his head.”

If the there was any doubt left after Breault’s goal, it was gone 11 minutes before the half. A long ball played up from the midfield took a high bounce inside the area with Santaniello in hot pursuit. Parsippany Hills keeper Rob Veech came off his line hard, but mistimed the bounce. Santaniello swooped in behind and pounded the ball home to give the Green Raiders the three-goal spread they brought into halftime.

“It was surprising, but we’ll take it any day,” said Baumgarten, of the comfortable halftime lead. “We are happy to have had the opportunity.”

Drew Davis and Ramapo will face Ocean City in the Group 3 state final.

Parsippany Hills had its best two scoring chances early in the second half when Gerardo Garnique saw a shot cleared off the line by Ramapo’s Danny Walsh and Michael Egan’s header went just north of the crossbar in the 48th minute.

Ramapo keeper Doug Harkins only needed only three saves to keep a clean sheet before giving way Joe Martorelli midway through the second half, but Harkins did make one pretty save in a bang-bang situation against Victor Markovski with 26 minutes left to play.

Ramapo added the icing on second half goals by Mark Solecitto and Santaniello and the Raiders moved to within one win of their first outright state championship since 2002. To do so, they will have to beat South Jersey champion Ocean City on the old-school Astroturf and the wide field at the College of New Jersey.

“You never know going down there and playing on that surface. The field is over 80 yards wide, which is different for both teams, but both team have to play on it,” said Baumgarten. “Hopefully we can get ourselves adjusted and having had the experience of having played Shawnee down there last year for most of these guys hopefully will be helpful."

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