Monday, October 10, 2011

By Cory K. Doviak
NJS.com Editorial Director

Rami Mamary added a hat trick to his impressive county tournament resume as Northern Highlands advance to the quarterfinals with a 3-0 win over Waldwick.

FRANKLIN LAKES – As a player who has made the Bergen County Tournament his personal showcase in the last two games that he has played in it, Northern Highlands' Rami Mamary could be forgiven if he had let his accomplishments get to his head. He scored the winning goal in overtime in last year's county championship match and he tallied a hat trick in his first game this year to give him four tournament goals in his last 43 minutes of tournament play.

But speaking after scoring all of Highlands' goals in a 3-0 win over Waldwick in the Round of 16 on Sunday at Ramapo High School, Mamary did the exact opposite of tooting his own horn.

“We want to play like we are the best, we want to have confidence, but we also want to be humble. We have to feel like there are teams that are better than us and that we have to play our hardest for every minute that we are out on the field,” said Mamary, a junior striker. “We love competition, we love to play soccer and a county tournament game is important, but we treat all of our games like that and we don't overlook any opponent.”

The Northern Highlands team of last season was a senior-laden squad looking to crack the upper echelon of Bergen County soccer. This year they are the defending champion, the team to to avoid being picked off by another with the mindset that the Highlanders used to win it all a season ago.

Waldwick's Zack Neugebauer did a good job against Northern Highlands' dangerous restarts.

“It was kind of a dream season last year with a dream start. We started 15-0 before we lost to Ramapo and then we beat them in the county final. We had a really good run going. We were No. 5 in the state, No. 30 in the nation and we lost to PV, who was a very good side [in the state tournament],” said Highlands head coach Sean Devore. “I tell them that in tournament play, one bad day and you are done. You have to play every minute because you get a team like Waldwick, which is better than a No. 13 seed, and this is their county final trying to get through us.”

In an attempt to frustrate the Northern Highlands attack, Waldwick played an offside trap, but with the Highlanders' precision passing, the Warriors quickly fell behind 2-0. Mamary timed two runs perfectly and caught up to two balls played over the top. Two breakaways, two goals and a 2-0 lead inside the first 15 minutes. Mamary scored again three minutes into the second half. The hat trick clincher was set up when Tim Collis just stayed onside and moved the ball on to Santiago Raigoza, who went in up the right. Raigoza then hit a rolling cross across the font of the goal and Mamary slammed it home on the back post 2:29 into the second half.

For Waldwick, which knocked off Emerson in the play-in round to reach the main draw, a 1-1 record in tournament play and a chance to test itself against the defending champion made for a positive county tournament experience.

PJ Aplanalp and the Highlands midfield were effective in starting the attack.

“We started off a little shaky. The early goals, they might or might not have been offside, but whatever the case, they caught us off balance. But then we kept fighting and I am proud of our guys. To be down 2-0 against the defending county champs, we could have hung our heads, but we didn't do that,” said Waldwick head coach John Noschese. “I thought we had our moments where we played a good brand of soccer and I think we will get better from this. There are things that we can improve on and Highlands showed them to us and we will get back to work on them.”

Waldwick's center back Eric Christiansen was solid in the middle and the Warriors brother tandem of Rikuo and Tokio Nakamoto also were involved in some coordinated attacks. Zack Neugebauer, Waldwick's junior keeper, did a good job controlling Northern Highlands' dangerous restarts and none of the three goals allowed could be laid at his feet.

Northern Highlands put together a complete team effort as Mamary handled the scoring, Raigoza, PJ Aplanalp and Matt Maghenzani handled the distribution and the defense showed no holes.

Highlands, the No. 4 seed, will face No. 5 Ridgewood in next weekend's quarterfinal round. Ridgewood knocked off Pascack Valley, 1-0, in the Round of 16 and is playing as well as any team in Bergen County right now. But no matter the opponent, Highlands is determined to stick to its approach and keep the intensity that has spurred the success of the last two seasons.

“It's a little different this time because we lost so many good seniors from last year's team, but we are excited and happy to play,” said Mamary. “We are playing for this year's seniors because this is their last time through the tournament and we just want to continue as far as we can. We love playing soccer and the more games the better.”

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