Monday, October 17, 2011

By Rich Barton
NJS.com Staff Writer

Ramsey celebrated its penalty kick shootout win over Glen Rock in the Bergen County quarterfinals on Sunday in Franklin Lakes.

RAMSEY – Facing a penalty kick should be the most terrifying experience a goaltender can face. Having a skilled shooter just 12 yards away with the entire net directly in front of them puts a goalie at a huge disadvantage. Ramsey’s Taylor Vozeh does not look at PKs in a negative way; he looks at them as the ultimate challenge and an opportunity to do his part for his team. After barely missing saving a penalty kick in the first half against upstart Glen Rock, Vozeh simply wanted a shot at redemption. He would get that and then some after the teams battled through 100 minutes of play without being able to decide a winner.

Vozeh made a save in the fifth round to keep the Rams’ hopes alive, then made another one on the 10th shooter to end the game and send second-seeded Ramsey into the Bergen County semifinals with to a 2-1 (7-6 in PKs) quarterfinal triumph over Glen Rock, the No. 10 seed, on Sunday at Ramapo High School.

“You always practice penalty kicks just in case, but you never think it’s going to end up like this,” said Ramsey’s Chuckie Slater. “I’m just glad we have Taylor (Vozeh) on our side.”

Bradean DeWan put Glen Rock in front with his first half goal.

Glen Rock made it into the quarterfinals with a 1-0 upset over Cliffside Park last week and the Panthers showed that was no fluke by hanging with Ramsey step-for-step in the first half before grabbing a halftime lead. On a cross into the box, Vozeh made a leaping play to snare the ball, but when he came down, it popped loose and Glen Rock’s Ethan Gazda tried to chip it through traffic and into the open net. The ball hit off a Ramsey defender’s hand and a penalty kick was awarded. Senior captain Bradean DeWan drilled it just over the fingertips of Vozeh and into the upper right-hand corner with 6:14 left to give the Panthers a 1-0 lead.

“I guessed right and it was just a perfect shot and just out of my reach,” said Vozeh. “I knew my team would pick me up, but I knew that I couldn’t let anything else by me the rest of the game.”

Facing a halftime deficit and possible elimination from the county tournament, Ramsey quickly took over the possession battle to start the second half and netted the equalizer after a pivotal call. DeWan delivered a hard foul to Ramsey’s Kevin Gendron, who sold it well to the referee, with DeWan receiving a yellow card and being sent off. On the ensuing free kick and with the 6-foot-5 DeWan not there to win the ball in the air, Ramsey sweeper Doug Fox moved up into the box. His header hit the left post and caromed into the box where Jerry Ramos cleaned up the mess to tie the game in the 50th minute, 1-1.

Taylor Vozeh stopped the 10th penalty kick to get Ramsey into the semifinals.

From there, the two defenses dominated as there were virtually no scoring opportunities on either side through the remainder of regulation and through the two overtime periods. That sent the game into a five-player, penalty-kick shootout for a berth in the BCT semis.

“We felt like we played with them the entire way; when you get to PKs though, anything can happen,” said Glen Rock head coach Paul Cusack. “Either way one team was going to feel that excitement of moving on and the other was going to be heartbroken, and unfortunately today that was us.”

Vozeh got a bit of revenge as he dove to his left to save a shot by DeWan on Glen Rock’s first PK. The Rams buried their first three to take the lead until Fox hit the post and Panthers’ keeper Ryan Zolper dove to his right to stop a low shot from Gendron. That put all the pressure on Vozeh, who had to come up with a save on the fifth shooter just to keep the game alive. The senior guessed correctly by diving to his right and punching away the potential game-winning goal.

“I don’t think I was overly confident or nervous because I was just so focused on making that save,” said Vozeh. “As soon as I saw it come off of his foot and it was coming at me, I just reacted and punched it away.”

Glen Rock keeper Ryan Zolper was steady all game long, including in the shootout.

In state tournament play, the five-player, penalty-kick round would have then gone to sudden-death. But in the Bergen County Tournament, it goes to a second set of five shooters; which was a welcome revelation for Vozeh. It allowed him to get better read on shooters he already faced, which proved to be the difference in the end.

After a Ramsey miss, Vozeh made a save on the sixth shooter to give the momentum back to the Rams. His teammates rewarded him with Slater, Henry Carey, Fox, and Gendron scoring four consecutive goals to put the pressure on Glen Rock to make a PK to keep the game alive. The same shooter who Vozeh made a save on to keep the game alive stepped up again, but Vozeh knew the pressure was all on him now. He dove to his right again to make a one-handed save before rising to his feet and waiting for his teammates to mob him.

“I had a hunch (the final shooter) was going to go back to the same side and I just went for it,” added Vozeh. “Having a second five shooters helped because I got into a rhythm and it was just like a PK drill. I could read their shooters a little bit better the second time around and that gave me a little bit of an advantage.”

Vozeh finished with seven saves, four of the coming in PKs as Ramsey moved into the semifinals where they will face third-seeded Northern Valley/Old Tappan, a 3-1 winner over Mahwah. Now that the Rams have faced some adversity in a tournament setting, they feel they are poised to handle any situation and have it hopefully end with a county title.

“We’ve had our ups and downs, but our confidence is at a pretty high level right now,” said Slater. “You have to be confident with yourself and your teammates even when things aren’t going your way. I mean shooter by shooter in penalty kicks, I felt like I was about to throw up. But when you have a goalie like we have, it helps ease your mind because you know he can make a save at any time. It was a real tough game against a very good team. But we survived and advanced and right now it’s a pretty great feeling.”

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