Sunday,
November 22, 2015
By Cory K. Doviak
NJS.com Editorial Director
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Karlie Brogan knocked in a header in the 29th minute to give Ramapo the lead for good in a 2-0 win over Holmdel in the Group 2 state final on Saturday. |
UNION – Last season, playing in the state round, on the same field against the same opponent, Ramapo spent 80 frustrating minutes waiting for a goal that never came. There were the usual explanations about getting opportunities and not putting them away, winning the possession game with nothing to show for it, etc., but a loss is a loss and Ramapo could only watch as Holmdel celebrated its first state title in school history.
In the rematch this season in the Group 2 state final on the same turf at Kean University, the Green Raiders waited around for nothing. Right from the opening whistle, Ramapo was the dominant side as it has been through its run through the state tournament. The Green Raiders left little to the ‘Fates of Soccer’ which sometimes decide games by a lucky bounce here or there.
Ramapo was not going to give up goal because it barely let Holmdel have the ball on the offensive side of the center stripe. Ramapo was not going to be held scoreless because it owned possession and repeatedly put itself in positions where ‘want to’ was going to be enough.
And the Raiders really ‘wanted to.’
Karlie Brogan and Olivia Kraebel headed home corner kicks 3:25 apart late in the first half to take care of the scoring and the Green Raiders were dominant in all phases from start to finish in a 2-0 win that gave the girls soccer program its 13th state championship under legendary head coach Paul Heenehan and the first since winning the Group 3 title in 2008.
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Olivia Kraebel heading in Ramapo's second goal, which came off a corner. |
“What you saw was a culmination of 10 weeks of hard work. We built to this and I could not be prouder of a group. In the first 10 minutes of the game you saw how determined they were,” said Heenehan. “What you also saw was senior leadership in the back. Two captains, four seniors in the back and we were just rock solid defensively.”
Because Abbie Adams, Monica Scaglione, Erin Racano and Brogan had things handled in front of goalkeeper Lizzy Stellakis, the chances of Holmdel stealing a goal against the run of play were slim to none. And because traffic in the back was quiet, a couple of those defenders moved up to put the Raiders in front for good.
With Sommer Cochran, who usually takes Ramapo’s corner kicks, was on the sideline taking a breather in the 29th minute, Scaglione, handled the set piece and put a ball into the mixer in front of the next. It took a couple of bounces back to Sarah Scire, who lined up a rip from 20 yards out that took a deflection off a defender before skimming the crossbar. It was a disappointing result, but good practice for the next corner kick, which Scaglione put a little more air under. The looping service landed right on the head of Brogan, who had a free header, which she knocked in to make it 1-0.
“It honestly felt amazing. It was the most surreal moment of my life. Usually on a corner kick I have to work to get open, I have to cut back kind of like I am playing basketball, but I wasn’t even marked,” said Brogan, who is also an All-County basketball player. “I knew I had to capitalize on that. I made my run, I jumped up as high as I could and put as much power as I could behind it.”
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Senior Monica Scaglione served in the two corner kicks that led directly to both Ramapo goals. |
Ramapo won another corner kick just over three minutes later and this time Olivia Kraebel was marked as she darted inside the six to meet Scaglione’s line drive service. The keeper was coming out, a defender was blocking her path and there was another on the goal line, but Kraebel went up and over all of them and headed home the backbreaker.
“We call it the ‘four run,’ the outside run and I have been doing it all year. Most of the time the ball doesn’t make it through to me, but I keep doing it because you never know,” said Kraebel, who will also make the switch to what is a promising basketball season this week. “I just keep making the run and try to get in the right spot and the ball was right there for me this time.”
In stark contrast to last year’s final, everything worked for Ramapo this time around. With Cochran on the sidelines, it could have been a negative for someone else to have to deliver those corners, but instead it was a perfect spot for Scaglione to take over. The senior was well-suited to cover the extra distance from corner to penalty spot on the full-size collegiate pitch at Alumni Stadium.
“I normally don’t take the corners because Sommer is so good at it, but she was out of the game and I had to step up. Karlie [Brogan] is always the player that we are looking for and I was aiming right for her head. When she put that first one in it was a great feeling,” said Scaglione, who will play at Towson University next season “This is awesome. We have been talking about this game forever because we lost to them last year. We just wanted to dominate this time. We have a lot of seniors, we are all such good friends and it is nice that this is the way we got to end it.”
That sentiment was echoed by other members of the Ramapo Class of 2016.
“It was a great day for us all around. Our best defense was a great offense. They held the ball up there so well today that we didn’t really have that much to do until late in the second half,” said Abbie Adams, Ramapo’s senior central defender. “It’s an amazing group and this is really bittersweet because this is the last time that we are all going to be playing together. We have worked so well together and we have been through so much together, but this is a great way to end the season.”
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