October
16, 2006
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| Ramapo senior EJ Alvarado scored twice, the second time with 5:38 to go in the game, as the Raiders posted a 3-1 win over Ridgefield Park. | |
FRANKLIN LAKES – When Ramapo lost its first game of the season then escaped with a come-from-behind win in game No. 2, there were some whispers. The Green Raiders were ripe for the picking this year and they were heading from a fall from the pedestal as one of Bergen County’s best teams. There were a lot of opponents licking their chops for some payback after years of domination.
Well, it hasn’t happened.
Ramapo hasn’t lost since that opening game and, on Sunday afternoon, it controlled play for 80 minutes and finally found the winning margin inside the final five minutes of a 3-1 win over Ridgefield Park in the Round of 16 of the Bergen County Tournament. The Raiders, the defending county champs, are safely into next Sunday’s quarterfinals where they will take on 10th-seeded Cliffside Park, a 4-0 winner over Garfield, in a rematch of last season’s thriller in the same round.
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| Ridgefield Park goalie Brian Haines was aggressive in controlling his area all game long. |
“I thought we were dangerous today in creating chances. We just have to get better at the end of things and finishing,” said Ramapo head coach Evan Baumgarten. “It’s a work in progress for us, but we finally got what we needed.”
Ramapo looked like it was in for a runaway when EJ Alvarado opened the scoring in the first half, but Ridgefield Park, despite playing in its first ever county tournament game and being on the defensive most of the way, scored on its first shot. Phil Bomzer’s volley inside the final 10 minutes of the first half got the Scarlets on the board and back in the game.
“I told the kids when we got off the bus that if we went out and gave 100 percent that we would give them a game and I think we did that,” said Ridgefield Park head coach Ryan Fells. “They are the second ranked team in the county, they have a great tradition and a great program. They are fast and they are big, but I have give credit to my kids. We were in it for 75 minutes.”
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| Robert Santaniello assisted on the game-winner and scored with less than a minute to go to seal Ramapo's win. |
Actually it was 74 minutes and 22 seconds to be exact. After threatening the RP net for the most of the second half, only to run into resistance inside the 18 and repeatedly being stymied by the solid play of Scarlet keeper Brian Haines (14 saves), Ramapo finally found the go ahead goal with 5:38 showing on the clock.
Robert Santaniello took control of a ball just inside the centerline in the middle of the field. He went right at the closest defender and turned him around before ripping a shot low and toward the right corner. Haines made a diving one-handed save to keep the game even momentarily, but Alvarado ran in behind a defender and on to the rebound. He poked it into the open net for the game-winning goal.
“We came out right from the beginning playing good soccer. We dominated the ball and we were in their end the whole time,” said Alvarado, Ramapo’s senior striker. “But their goalie made some good saves and we had to keep working. Every year, every team is out to get Ramapo and it is something we are used to and we just have to focus on playing our game and not worry about what the other team is thinking.”
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| Alan Bruno Leite and Ridgefield Park gave the second seeded Raiders all they could handle. |
The Raiders added their final goal inside the last minute and it was Santaniello who was finally rewarded for his hard work. Will Brackett started the play in the midfield by moving the ball up to David Horner on the right side. Horner rolled one along the ground and led Santaniello right to the top of the box from where he hit a rip into the lower right hand corner.
Ramapo was bolstered by the return of sweeper Tim Decilveo, who returned earlier this week after suffering an ankle injury in the opener. That allows junior John Fiorenzo, a physical player adept and winning balls and starting the counter attack to move up a level and get more involved in the offensive third.
“Having Tim back helps in two ways. Naturally just having him back on the field helps us, but being able to move John, who did a great job at sweeper, up and allows us to use him in more ways,” said Baumgarten. “We are closer to full strength and this is such a great time of the year for the kids, just knowing that there is a tournament to play in and we are still involved. It feels good to get the first win and we’ll see what happens from here.”
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| The return of senior Tim Decilveo allows Ramapo junior John Fiorenzo (25) to get more involved in the attack. |
For resurgent Ridgefield Park (9-4), the county tournament may be over, but its season is far from kaput. The Scarlets can play spoiler in the tight BCSL-American Division race and have the state tournament to look forward to.
“Just being here was a great experience for our program. It was our first time ever in the counties and we won our opening round game against Indian Hills, which was an accomplishment in itself,” said Fells. “The opportunity to come up here and play a team like Ramapo on its home field close for most of the way, I think, says a lot about what kind of kids we have here.”
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