Monday, November 17, 2008

By Cory K. Doviak
NJS.com Editorial Director

Freshman Brandon Alvardo gave Ramapo the lead for good in the 17th minute and the Green Raiders went on to win their third county championship in the last four years with a 2-0 win over defending champion Don Bosco Prep.

OAKLAND -- Entering the finals of the Bergen County Tournament on Sunday, Ramapo and Don Bosco Prep were coming from two entirely different places. Ramapo was taking a respite from its state tournament run that included a state sectional title on Friday and will continue in the Group 3 semifinals on Tuesday, while Bosco was coming off a 10-day layoff that brought about by a loss in the states last Thursday and a car accident that caused the final to be moved back a week. The Ironmen were also without two starters who opted for a club soccer tournament.

The motivation factor was clearly on Ramapo’s side and it was just one of the advantages the Green Raiders used in their favor as they earned their third county championship in the last four years and the eighth in school history with a 2-0 win at Indian Hills High School.

The Raiders also walked off Sunday with their aspirations for a title sweep still in tact. They now have league, county and state sectional championships in their pockets and are two wins away from repeating as outright Group 3 state champions. With a senior dominated team, it’s obvious that Ramapo is not about to let up.

George Velasquez and Don Bosco Prep finished the season with a 19-3-1 record.

“Sophomore year a lot of us were on the team when we were county co-champs [with Paramus], but that year we lost in the state final. Last year we had trouble in the county tournament, but won Group 3. This year it is one step at a time, but we are trying to put it all together,” said Will O’Connor, Ramapo’s senior midfielder. “We have two more games ahead of us in the states, hopefully, but our focus today was to get the county title and move on from here.”

Ramapo has really been on a roll since the first day of the season and has only gotten better since then. The Raiders showed no interest in yielding to Bosco, the defending tournament champion, and dictated pace right from the opening whistle. Ramapo’s precision attack started taking aim early and senior Rob Santaniello, who had all three of the Raiders’ goals in the section final win over Roxbury on Thursday, had the game’s first chance, a header off a corner kick that just missed wide right.

The opportunities flowed from there and freshman Brandon Alvarado cashed one in the 17th minute. After Chris Kuehn was taken down on a slicing run through the midfield, O’Connor drilled the restart into the pile 18 yards from the goal line. The ball was spit out to the right; Alvarado took possession and then spun and rifled a shot inside the opposite post.

“It was just instinct. Will got the ball to me somehow and it was my job to put it in. I did what I could and got lucky I guess,” said Alvarado. “I didn’t know what to think. I was really excited to score a goal for the team, but I knew that after that we had to keep going. It wasn’t over yet.”

The hustle of Rob Santaniello (right) paid off in Ramapo's second goal.

But it was certainly heading that way as Ramapo’s defensive strategy was working. The Raiders opted not to pressure the Bosco backline when it gained possession and instead decided to squeeze the midfield where it could close down passing lanes and clog the functions of Dylan Renna and George Velasquez, the Bosco forwards who are so tough in running at defenders when they can get them isolated in space.

“They are a solid defensive team and they are very organized. Every time we gout ourselves forward, they always had an extra guy below the ball,” said Bosco head coach Mark Maka. “We kind of rely on Dylan and Georgie running at guys a little bit more and there was always that extra guy that we had to deal with. It made it difficult.”

Ramapo was also adept at limiting restarts, which made Bosco try to get its offense by travelling through the most congested routes of the defense. Doug Harkins was steady in the Ramapo net, but he was called upon to make just four saves as the Green Raiders defense, led by RJ Voorman, Peter Garambone, Danny Walsh and Marc Solecitto, were up to the task.

Dylan Renna (24) and the Bosco offense did not have much room to operate against keeper Doug Harkins and the Ramapo defense.

And when play went the other way, the Green Raiders used various angles of attack to get in and apply pressure.

Even though it had to settle for the 1-0 lead at halftime, the second goal always seemed like it was coming and it finally did just over 17 minutes into the second half. Drew Davis headed in a loose ball along the right sideline and it took a funky bounce over the heads of two Don Bosco defenders. Ever the opportunist, Santaniello swooped in behind and immediately headed for goal. Already inside the 18 when he gained possession, he took a dribble and then banked one off the opposite post and in for the 2-0 lead.

“A little mistake by their defense and it just opened it up for me to have a look on goal. I didn’t think it was going to go over [the defender’s] head, but I went after it anyway and it turned into something,” said Santaniello. “We set goals in the beginning of the season and one of them was to win a county championship. We are happy and it means something today, but once we get back on the field for practice tomorrow it means nothing. Tomorrow it is all about Millburn [in the Group 3 semifinals].”

Ramapo played defense with its offense over the final 15 or so minutes, continuing to create chances that ran the clock even if they didn’t find their way into the back of the net. With 13 minutes to go and then again three minutes later, Santaniello had two quality rips off up runs up the left. The first one hit the side net and the second forced Bosco keeper Dave LoBue low to make one of his eight saves. With just under 10 minutes to play, Santaniello set up Tommy Breault up the flank for a try that drew out LoBue but bounced wide of the opposite post.

Will O'Connor and Ramapo will play Millburn in the Group 3 semifinals on Tuesday.

The county title was the sixth for Ramapo under head coach Evan Baumgarten, tied with former Bosco and current Pascack Valley head coach Roy Nygren, for second most in the 36 year history of the tournament and just one behind the legendary Dick Bennett of Ridgewood who won seven.

Never one for wordy platitudes to himself, Baumgarten took title number six in much the same way he did the first five: with all credit going to his players.

“It thought we were cohesive in our play. Defensively, we didn’t give them many opportunities. We gave them a few, but not many,” said Baumgarten. “I think it is a thing of our guys working together all the time and playing for each other. You saw it with Robby and Tommy up front. One of them could have gone in alone a couple of times toward the end of the game, but they kept slipping it to the next guy to make the next guy better.”

Baumgarten also had an expiration date for the county championship celebration, which consisted of a quick meal at a makeshift tailgate in the dimly lit and windblown parking lot.

So how long was it? Ten, 15 minutes?

“That’s about it,” said Baumgarten, whose team is now 20-0-2 on the season. “We’ll enjoy it later on.”

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