Thursday,
November 20, 2014
By Cory K. Doviak
NJS.com Editorial Director
|
|
Jeremy DelValle gets a lift after hitting the PK that got Hackettstown past Ramsey in the
Group 2 state semifinals on Wednesday night. |
BASKING RIDGE – Even though it is a state sectional champion and had won 21 of its 23 games this season heading into Wednesday night's Group 2 state semifinal, Hackettstown was surprised when it found itself in the lead against Ramsey and for good reason. The Rams were yet to allow a goal in state tournament play and had given up just five in total through their first 18 games of the season.
And it was a legit goal, too. Just about 23 minutes into the game, Joshua Weiss won the race for a ball played in from the midfield on the ground and got it over Mike Saalfrank, the Ramsey keeper who came flying off his line when he read the developing 1-v-1 situation.
Weiss' goal was his 24th of the season and while it did not win the Tigers the game, it did set them up to absorb what was to come and that was relentless Ramsey pressure over the final 60 minutes of regulation and the two 10-minute overtime periods. When it got through that onslaught unscathed, Hackettstown caught its breath and then caught some momentum of its own in the penalty kick shootout that decided which side would play for the Group 2 state championship on Sunday at Kean University.
When Jared Leckburg led off the PKs with a make, it was like Hackettstown had regained complete control of the match as the first Ramsey shooter missed well left of the target. Leckburg, Nick Corby and Weiss were perfect as Hackettstown's first three shooters and, when the third Ramsey attempt clanged off the crossbar and bounced down and out, it left Jeremy DelValle with a chance to win it. He went to the right corner, Saalfrank chose the other way with an anticipatory dive and Hackettstown is moving on after an exciting and freezing 1-1 (4-1 PKs) final decision.
|
Mike Pepper's goal 10 minutes into the second half got Ramsey even at 1. |
“I can't even explain the feeling. I can't even breathe almost. That might be because of the cold, too, but no words are coming out. It's just unreal,” said DelValle. “Being in that pressure spot I was confident because we practice [PKs] everyday at the end of practice. It was just me and the ball, same spot every time. I went for the right corner and, thank God, the goalie went the other way.”
As for the game action that preceded the shootout, the first 20 minutes were evenly played and the final 80 were not. Ramsey was obviously pumped up for the game and came out playing the man as much, if not more, than the ball. Maybe there was too much adrenaline as the Rams were caught out of position when Weiss exploited the space. But after that, it was all Ramsey, even to the eyes of Hackettstown head coach Gary Thomas, who pulled his team back into a defensive posture after it took the lead.
“I thought that we 50/50 with them right up to the midway point of the first half, but after that they really brought the heat. They are a really good team,” said Thomas, who has been with the the Hackettstown program since its inception in 1974 and has been the head coach for all but the first 11 of those years when he was an assistant. “They had numerous chances to score, maybe three for or five and they couldn't put it in. They shot it over, they shot it wide or right at the keeper.”
Ramsey finally got one to go in 10 minutes after halftime and it was set up by the aggressive step of Rocky Fatuova, who saw a loose ball, ran straight for it and pushed it ahead to Christian Tesoriero, whose shot was saved by the sliding dive of keeper Kyle Palomino. But there was a rebound and Mike Pepper kept it on frame to make it 1-1.
Hackettstown had only one more real scoring chance the rest of the way when Michael Taenzer flicked on a header off a corner kick, but Salfraank stood his ground and took the ball chest high on the goal line. Meanwhile, there were Ramsey chances aplenty. Inside the final 10 minutes of regulation alone, Mike Cirilli's header off a Fatuova cross went high, Cooper Anderson finished a hustling back side run into the midsection of Palomino and Tesoriero's spinning volley attempt off a Sean Sylvester set up was deflected over the crossbar.
In the first overtime, Palomino turned away a Sylvester free kick with an all-out dive to his right and Anderson's flying volley attempt off a serve by Sam Berman went wide left. Anderson also had a chance in the second overtime when he out-hustled a tiring defense to a ball in the corner and walked in front with it, but the finish was outside of the opposite post and penalty kicks that started after 10 p.m. in frigid conditions were the only way to get everyone in attendance out of the elements.
|
Michael Taenzer and Hackettstown will play Cinnaminson in the Group 2 state final on Sunday. |
“When you get to this point of the season I told our guys that only good teams are left and that if you play them 10 times it would probably come out 50/50. But if we played the way we did tonight we would probably win eight out of those 10 games, but this happened to be one of those that went against us. We outplayed them but we did not put the ball in the net,” said Ramsey head coach Jaime Phillips. “We had a phenomenal season. We gave up six goal all season in 19 games. That is a ridiculous number and three of them were just freaky things that just happened. I know the kids are upset now, but there is nothing to hang their heads about. They had a great season.”
Hackettstown's great season continues now as it will play Cinnaminson on Sunday in search of the second outright state title in school history and the first since 2001. Thomas has not publicly announced whether this will be his last time around with the program he helped launch 40 years ago, but through his experience he knows that opportunities to be one of the six boys soccer teams in the state to win on the final day of the season are few and far between.
“We've been in the section final seven times and we have only won it twice. It's hard to get out of our section and when you do it is a real accomplishment,” said Thomas. “I don't know if I would call this win today an upset, it might be, but we survived and advanced and we have one more win to get.”
CLICK HERE FOR MORE PHOTOS FROM THIS GAME. TO BUY A COLLECTOR'S PRINT
OF THIS STORY, PLEASE VISIT 4FeetGrafix.com. |