Friday,
November 20, 2014
By Cory K. Doviak
NJS.com Editorial Director
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Ramapo celebrated after beating Hanover Park, 3-1, in the Group 2 semifinals on Wednesday night. Next up is Holmdel in the state final on Saturday. |
BASKING RIDGE -- On paper Ramapo had the more impressive resume. The Green Raiders rolled through the North 1, Group 3 state sectional playoffs as the No. 1 seed without allowing a goal and entered Wednesday night's Group 2 state semifinal with an 19-3 record with all off the losses coming against either IHA, the Bergen County and Non-Public A state champion, or Northern Highlands, the three-time defending Group 3 state champion that will play for a fourth on Sunday. If IHA and Highlands are the No. 1 and No.2 teams in the state as has been near unanimously decided, then Ramapo might just be No. 3.
Hanover Park, on the other hand, is the classic example of the team that got hot at the right time. The Hornets were an under .500 side and the No. 6 seed when the North 2, Group 2 state sectional tournament began before ripping off four straight playoff wins, the last two on the road against the No. 2 and No. 1 seeds, Morris Tech and Madison, to bring the program its first ever sectional title.
Through the first half at Ridge High School, the script held to what might have been expected. Ramapo dominated in terms of possession, restarts and scoring chances, but had nothing to show for it besides a scoreless draw while Hanover Park was hanging in there looking for that one opportunity that might lead it to yet another upset.
That moment did pop up early in the second half when Courtney Giordano split two Ramapo defenders and made a winding run down the spine and drew the keeper, who she rounded expertly. All that was left to do was to pass the ball to the waiting open net. The Hanover Park goal celebration was just about to begin and the heads on the Ramapo bench were already drooping when the ball left Giordano's foot, but fortunes changed right there.
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Gianna Zarra scored the final goal of what was a historic season for Hanover Park, which won its first ever state sectional title. |
Giordano's shot somehow hit the inside of the right post on such an angle that it spit back out without crossing the goal line as Ramapo defender Monica Scaglione raced in to win the fight for the rebound and clear it away. Less than four minutes later, it was Ramapo that scored the game-changing opening goal and the Green Raiders that are off to the Group 2 state final after a 3-1 win in frigid conditions in Basking Ridge.
“The Soccer Gods were looking out for us on that shot, there is no question about that. They dodged all of our bullets in the first half, we dodged their bullet when that shot hit the post, but that is soccer and we will take it,” said Ramapo head coach Paul Heenehan. “The teamwork was there, the passion, they prepared well, we practiced great all week and there has never been a more deserving group to go to a state final.”
After nearly falling behind completely against the run of play, Ramapo went right back to work and it was the hustle of Nicole Sturno that turned the game around. Sterno saw that a clearance attempt might wind up short of its intended target and she made a run for it, taking possession in front of a Hanover Park midfielder and then it was a game of Connect Four. Sterno found Reilly Garner on the left, who quickly slotted the ball for Sarah Scire, who gave it right back. Garner then finished inside the opposite post for the all-important 1-0 lead.
“If they had scored that first goal I think it might have changed our moral a little bit because [playing from behind in the state tournament] is not something that we are used to. That might have shaken us up a little bit, but when it hit the post it was like a sign of fate,” said Garner, one of Ramapo's two senior captains. “For my goal I just tried to do what Coach [Heenehan] always tells me to do. As soon as I gave up the ball, I kept my feet moving because I know what Sarah [Scire] is going to do. We have been playing together for three years now and we kind of have this telepathy going where we now where each other are going to be. She passed it back and I just had to put it in.”
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Sarah Scire assisted on the Ramapo's first goal. |
With the ice (almost literally with the temperature hovering at 28 degrees) broken, Ramapo relaxed and kept getting forward. In the 66th minute, senior Lauren Brzozowski hit a rip from 30 yards out that was kept out only by a brilliant save by Hanover Park keeper Jill Carille, who climbed the ladder to knock the ball away with both hands. But the rebound fell right to the foot of Sommer Cochran, who hammered it home for a 2-0 lead.
Ramapo added the icing (sorry, it was cold) on top six minutes before time when Garner found Brzozowski charging down the channel and the senior, who will run track next season at Elon University, made it 3-0.
“I am just happy that I have another game to play. I am not going to play [soccer] in college, but after games like this and the feeling that you get when you win a game like this, I almost wish I was,” said Brzozowski. “I love team sports and sharing this feeling with my teammates. I want to go out with a bang and end on a high note. Winning a state championship is the only way that I can think to do that.”
Hanover Park got a well-deserved state tournament hurrah when Gianna Zarra knifed through the middle and scored into the lower right hand corner with 4:51 to play to make it 3-1, but it is Ramapo that is moving on to Kean University where they will play Holmdel on Saturday. The Green Raiders are now just win away from their first outright state championship since 2008.
“Everything that we have gotten so far is from everyone out on the field and everyone in the program giving 110 percent. I don't think we could have gotten even close to where we are now without every person coming focused and playing as hard as they can not just for themselves, but for each other. We play for each other,” said Scire. “It helps that we have a lot of depth this year. We have a whole bench, everyone rotates in and gets touches on the ball and we find each other. It is not just one person and it is a lot better because everyone has the opportunity to make something happen.”
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