Monday, May 4, 2009

By Cory K. Doviak
NJS.com Editorial Director

Emily Doyle scored seven goals to lead IHA past Ramapo, 19-8, and into the Bergen County Tournament championship game.

FRANKLIN LAKES -- Sunday's first semifinal in the Bergen County Girls Lacrosse Tournament figured to be a shootout. With both IHA and Ramapo able to get up and down the field in short order, the goals were certain to come in bunches. They did, but in the first 16 minutes of the game, all but one of them belonged to IHA, the No. 2 seed that pulled away early and held off No. 3 Ramapo the rest of the way. IHA opened a 7-1 lead in the steady rain, then poured in a bunch more before posting a 19-8 win that puts the Blue Eagles in the final where they will face top-seeded Ridgewood in a rematch of last season's championship game.

“Our goal for every game is to score the first goal and then build a steady lead and we were able to do that today,” said Kelly Reers, who scored five goals as a part of IHA’s attack. “We definitely put a lot of effort into coming out strong, so I wasn’t really surprised. Ramapo played great and they were able to hold us at times, but we were really gunning and going to goal.”

IHA actually scored the first five goals of the game and left Ramapo in the uncomfortable position of playing catchup, an unenviable position to be in against IHA, which continued to press the goal throughout.

Ana Drewhing's three goals led Ramapo, which fell to 9-3.

“We just weren’t able to stop them from getting the ball to the net. They are phenomenal shooters, they are very disciplined in their shot selection and they were finding each other in front of the net,” said Ramapo head coach Sue Montegari. “The majority of their goals were eight-meter shots and they were putting them up in the corners and low.”

Ramapo trailed 9-3 after Emily Doyle scored with 3:12 to go in the first half, but the Green Raiders snuck back in the game with two straight goals. The first came from Ana Drehwing with Ramapo on a two-man advantage and the second came from Maria Toscano, who took a feed from Erinn Hogan, who was stationed behind the net, and scored to draw Ramapo to within 9-5 with 1:17 left in the first half.

“We got a little shaky and you can never take any team lightly, especially in the county tournament. Ramapo is a great team and they have some superstars and that was obvious in the middle [of the game],” said IHA head coach Liz Henky. “The key was that our defense played well and when our defense plays well it makes life easier for everyone.”

IHA’s offense reemerged with 21 seconds to go before the buzzer when it was awarded a restart and Katie Callopy capitalized to give IHA a 10-5 lead at the break. If that wasn’t the goal that put the game away, then Doyle’s tally 1:17 into the second half certainly was. That goal restored the Blue Eagles’ six-goal lead.

Katie Callopy scored six goals for IHA, which improved to 9-1 on the season.

Ramapo got as close as 11-7 with just over 20 minutes to play in the game, but IHA scored the next four straight to put the game away. Two straight goals by Caroline Shiel brought the Green Raiders as close as they would come before Doyle answered with 12:35 to go to up IHA’s lead to 12-7. Just over a minute later, Doyle knocked a ball free from the goal keeper, scooped up the ball and deposited it in the open net to double up Ramapo, 14-7, with 11:27 to play.

Doyle’s seven goals led all scorers and she combined with Callopy (6 goals) and Reers to scored all but one of the Blue Eagles goals. The trio also teamed up for seven of IHA’s eight assists. Drehwing led Ramapo (9-3) with three goals and Shiel finished with two.

IHA (9-1) will now move on to face Ridgewood in the final. One of these years a Bergen County team is going to eventually knock off the long dominant Maroons. Whether or not this is the year, Henky was not willing to speculate.

“It is always to be in the finals of anything,” said Henky. “The final is always a fun game and we are glad to be back in it.”

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