Friday, October 5, 2007

By Rich Barton
NJS.com Staff Writer

Ali Singer set up Ramsey's first goal in a 2-0 win over Wayne Hills on Thursday afternoon.

WAYNE – As October comes around, all field hockey teams in North Jersey hope to start playing to their potential. Early October means the Bergen and Passaic county tournaments are right around the corner. Ramsey is the reigning Bergen County champion and Wayne Hills has made the Passaic County final in each of the past two seasons. On Thursday, the two teams met hoping to make a 60-minute statement with the winner gaining momentum heading into the second half of the season.

It took just one shot and 101 seconds for one team to forge ahead. Elizabeth Stich scored on the game’s first shot and Mary O’Connor added another goal late in the first half as Ramsey set the tone early and cruised to a 2-0 triumph.

“After losing to Montclair (4-1), we came out really focused on starting strong,” said Ali Singer, Ramsey’s leading scorer. “We didn’t take advantage of our opportunities in that game and we wanted to focus on doing that today. We had just three losses last year and we wanted to have at least the same record this season, if not better.”

Wayne Hills' Lauren Bracco about to launch a second half shot.

The Lady Rams took control right from the opening whistle and quickly drew an infraction about 30 yards from goal. O’Connor blasted a hard groundball into the penalty area, and Stich got enough of her stick on it to re-direct it. The ball somehow made its way through a sea of players from both teams and into the back of the net. After a minute of deliberation between the two officials as two who touched the ball last, the goal stood and Ramsey held a 1-0 lead.

“There is a lot of motivation for us to play well,” said O’Connor. “During warm-ups, we were getting used to the field. Once the game started, we were ready to go and we were able to start strong.”

They kept the pressure on throughout the first half and struck again with less than five minutes to go; once again with an O’Connor blast doing the damage. Off of a short corner, Singer set the ball down for O’Connor, who then drilled a shot far post into the lower left-hand corner of the net putting Ramsey ahead by two goals. O’Connor, no stranger to big goals, also scored the game-winning goal in the 2nd overtime of last year’s Bergen County title game,

“For some reason, we’re looking flat and unconfident lately,” said Wayne Hills head coach Jen Badami. “We started off the season so well and now we’re playing like we’re unsure of ourselves. We lost today, but I’m not worried because I know of (our team’s) ability. Come tournament time, we seem to step it up and we’ve made the county final three years in a row. Hopefully the realization of the county tournament being right here will help us get focused.”

Elizabeth Stich got Ramsey on the board with the game's first shot less than two minutes in.

Wayne Hills turned the tables in the second half, controlling possession and keeping the ball consistently in the Rams’ end of the field. Unfortunately for the Patriots, they could not put the ball in the back of the cage. Their best chance to avert the shutout came with four minutes to play when Amanda Boedeker drilled a long ball into the penalty area in transition. Jackie Giammetta kept it going with a hard one-timer, but it was right at the Ramsey keeper, who made the save.

Ramsey (6-2) held the advantage in both shots and corners, 10-4 and 10-6, respectively. Goalie Michelle Auger led Wayne Hills (5-4-2) with eight saves, including a pair of sterling stick saves.

Wayne Hills, the No. 3 seed in the Passaic County tournament, will play at home against sixth-seeded Lakeland on Saturday at 2:30. In Bergen County, the Rams will likely garner the top seed as they start the defense of their title a week from Saturday.

“We knew we had to capitalize on our opportunities and scoring on the first shot is definitely capitalizing,” said Ramsey head coach Becky Fantry. “I’ve never had a group of girls work harder and want to win more than these girls. It wasn’t the cleanest game, it wasn’t the nicest looking game, but we won so I can’t complain.”

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