Monday, October 26, 2009

By Rich Barton
NJS.com Staff Writer

Christie Andolena’s goal off of a corner with 14 minutes to play put the finishing touches on Ramsey’s 3-1 win in the county semifinals.

RAMSEY – For over 50 minutes, second-seeded Ramsey was in complete control of its battle against third-seeded Northern Valley/Demarest in the Bergen County Field Hockey Tournament semifinals. The Rams were winning loose balls and earning short corners to keep the pressure on their opponent, but the Norsewomen had no intention of going down without a fight and scored midway through the second half to trim Ramsey’s lead to a single goal.

It could have shaken the Rams and sent them into a defensive shell trying to protect what was left of their lead, but instead they took the opposite approach. Ramsey attacked the Demarest cage even harder to regain their two-goal edge and quickly did that.

Christie Andolena’s goal off of a corner with 14 minutes to play put the finishing touches on Ramsey’s 3-1 win at Northern Highlands High School.

“We had to keep attacking, we couldn’t sit back on our heels and let the game come to us,” said Ramsey head coach Rebecca Fantry. “They were playing harder than we were in the second half when they scored. While we obviously didn’t want them to score, I think it happened at the perfect time. It definitely served as a wake-up call. We became more aggressive and we bounced right back with a goal to give us some room to breathe.”

Margot Keen set up the goal that got Demarest to within 2-1.

Ramsey scored on its first shot to take an early lead. Tara Welch’s shot got through traffic in front and into the cage to put the Rams on top, 1-0, just 3:51 into the contest. Melissa Gwon assisted on both first-half goals, the second coming from Hailey Tuminello to give the Rams a 2-0 halftime lead.

“It’s all about passion for the game and who wanted it more,” said Northern Valley/Demarest head coach Jessica Alcorta. “In the first half, they just wanted it more than we did. I think we took a lesson from that and came out much harder in the second half. But by then we were already down two goals and it was tough to come back from that.”

The first half was dominated by Ramsey, but the Norsewomen rallied in the second half. Margot Keen collected the ball up the right side and her centering pass was one-timed home by Mary Francavilla to trim Ramsey’s two-goal lead in half, 2-1.

Faced with adversity for the first time in the game, Ramsey handled the situation with poise and execution. Two minutes after Francavilla’s goal, the Rams carried the ball deep into Demarest’s end of the field and earned a corner. Rita Kennedy’s pass was right to Andolena at the top of the penalty area. Her blast went into the lower right-hand corner of the cage for the final 3-1 margin.

Ashley Tuminello's goal gave Ramsey a 2-0- lead at halftime.

“After they scored, we needed to pick up our pace offensively,” said Andolena. “I just had a chance to take a shot and I took it. When the ball went in, I felt like we were going to win this game. We want to be county champs and we couldn’t let this game slip away. No matter what the score was, we had to keep playing hard.”

Rachel Moore had six saves for Ramsey (9-7), while Amanda Fierro had nine for Northern Valley/Demarest.

Ramsey and Northern Highlands split their two regular-season meetings. Their third will have much more at stake as the top two seeds clash next Saturday, also at Northern Highlands, for the right to be called the Bergen County champion. With both teams having so much knowledge about one another, the outcome will be decided by who executes their game plan better.

“We know Northern Highlands really well and they know us really well,” added Fantry. “It’s going to be a heck of a game between two teams who are very deserving to be there. If they play their style, they will win. If we can play Ramsey field hockey, I like our chances. Either way, it’s going to be a great game between two great teams.”

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