Friday, September 14, 2012

By Cory K. Doviak
NJS.com Editorial Director

Harwin Ventura scored just over 16 minutes into the second half to give Cliffside Park the lead for good on the way to a 4-1 win over Ridgefield Park on Thursday afternoon.

CLIFFSIDE PARK – With just one senior on the roster and none in the starting lineup compared to three freshman starters and three more who play varsity minutes, Cliffside Park boys soccer coach Jim Fucci knows he might have to show some patience, especially early in the season, as his young team gains experience. But after being shutout in a rare league loss at Dumont earlier in week and giving up the first goal of the game on Thursday at home against Ridgefield Park, Fucci's patience wore a little thin.

Nobody had to guess what the halftime speech might have been, everyone at the field could hear it. Short on tactical adjustments and long on volume, Fucci tried to put the fight back in his team.

“I did not curse, I made a point of that, but it was loud. I wanted them to play with some passion,” said Fucci. “These kids have been here for 11 months weightlifting, going to study halls, playing all summer in the heat in three or four tournaments; have some passion to your play...the season is here.”

The message got through as Cliffside Park scored six minutes into the second half and pulled away down the stretch on the way to a 4-1 win.

“I have known Coach Fucci since I was five years old and I have seen speeches like that before,” said junior Harwin Ventura. “He can get loud, but he does it because he wants us to play better as a team and work together and that was what we needed to do.”

Juan Faciolince scored on a quickly taken restart to give Ridgefield Park the lead.

The Red Raiders got the message and it was Ventura who had two chances to put his team in front early in the second half. His first effort, a quick spin to create space 20 yards from goal in the 45th minute, forced Ridgefield Park keeper Darian Serventi to sprawl to push it over the bar. Ventura's second chance turned into the game winner.

In the 47th minute, a Ridgefield Park defender played a ball out along the right sideline to set up a throw in for Nick Rocha, who threw the ball onto the head of Alex Ramadanovic, who then nodded it into a pileup in front of the next. The ball bounced out of the pile and sat up for Ventura, who put it away and put his team in front for good.

“The ball fell right to my foot and I saw my shot. It was my time to shine,” said Ventura, one of seven juniors in the Cliffside starting lineup. “After that goal we started to control the game. We played calmly and every other goal after that came through play on the field.”

Ridgefield Park, which had split its first two games of the season, took advantage of an opportunity early in the game to take the lead. After a foul just outside the penalty area, Juan Faciolince quickly put the ball down to line up the restart. The Cliffside wall had yet to assemble in a cohesive manner and Faciolince knocked the ball through and into the right corner of the net for the game's first goal just over 18 minutes in. Gabriel Donato tied the game for Cliffside four minutes later and then came the halftime speech that spurred the Raiders to the finish line.

Gabe Donato got Cliffside even with his goal 14 minutes in.

Jose Pena, one of CP's three freshmen starters, chested a ball down in the area and banged home the Raiders' third goal in the 53rd minute and with just over 12 minutes to play in the game, Filip Bajovic won the endline after a run op the right side and cut the ball back for Rocha, who finished to close the game's scoring.

“We were coming off a loss and we were 1-1 at the half, so it made me feel great the way we played in the second half,” said Gramoz Peposhi, CP's junior defender. “After we lost to Dumont we moved on right to a good day of practice because we knew it was not the end of the world, it was just the second game of the season. We showed today that we can play and we just want to keep getting better.”

Ridgefield Park is hoping to get better, too, as it returns just five lettermen from last year's team. The Scarlets beat Dwight Morrow to open the season and lost to Pascack Hills before giving Cliffside Park a real challenge for 50-plus minutes.

“I have a lot of guys for whom this was just their third varsity game and when the second half rolled around maybe we just ran out of a little steam. Cliffside Park can wear you down, that is the type of team they are,” said Ridgefield Park head coach Ryan Fells. “I am hoping that my seniors can step up a little more. I have put a lot of pressure on them to carry us for a while until our younger guys can contribute. We feel we have the talent, but we have yet to put together a full 80 minutes. We played a good first half today, we played a good second half against Pascack Hills, but we need the consistency to do it for a full game. It will come.”

RP freshman keeper Darien Serventi made nine saves.

One of the younger players that stood out for RP was freshman goalkeeper Darian Serventi. Although he finished with four goals against, he made his fair share of tough saves. None of the goals scored against him were of the soft variety and her controlled the area on his way to nine saves. Cliffside keeper David Chicara finished with four saves, two of them coming on a series of three straight Scarlet corner kicks midway through the second half.

Cliffside improved to 2-1 on the season heading into a Saturday showdown at Ramsey in what should be a good measuring stick for two programs accustomed to making long Bergen County and state tournament runs.

“Today was more important than Ramsey. We could not afford to go 1-2 and then go up to Ramsey on a Saturday morning with a team that has just one senior [Steve Martinez],” said Fucci. “We are not 'Cliffside' yet, but I like what we are building. We have two guys at outside fullback [Peposhi and Alex Hernandez] that can lock people down, have speed and can get forward. Brian Palumbo, our stopper, is in there because he wins everything and the freshman we have in the back [Jamie Banegas] has a chance to be one of the best defenders in the county before he is done. We have a lot to work with, but we still have a long way to go.”

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