Friday, September 18, 2015

By Rich Barton
NJS.com Staff Writer

Frank Oramos had a goal and two assists for Dickinson, which improved to 5-1 in the season with a 4-1 win at Ferris on Thursday.

JERSEY CITY – Even though the past few years have been lean ones for the Dickinson boys’ soccer program having not won a state tournament game since 2009, head coach Rene Portillo returned to the sideline after a five-year hiatus with high expectations. Back when Portillo last was the head coach in that 2009 season, he helped lead the Rams to their first and only section final berth. Back then he had all-state forward Max Garcia to provide the necessary offensive firepower. For this year’s Dickinson side to be successful, it has to be a collective effort for a full 80 minutes to come away with a positive result.

David Garcia gave Dickinson the lead midway through the first half and Frank Oramas added a goal and two assists as the Rams are showing that the program is indeed back with a 4-1 victory over rival Ferris to improve to 5-1 on the season.

“It’s a tough adjustment playing Ferris here because they know the lay of the land on their field better than we do,” said Portillo. “Ferris is one of the strong teams in our league and we knew it was going to be a battle. We didn’t get too many scoring chances, but when we got them we capitalized on them.”

The play went back and forth throughout the first half with neither team giving  an inch. Dickinson senior keeper Adam Cassidy (arguably the most underrated goalie in North Jersey) made a pair of big saves early to keep the game scoreless until the Rams pulled ahead in the 20th minute. Oramas’ free kick from 40 yards out skipped through traffic and Garcia was there to finish for 1-0 lead.

Santiago Paulino's PK in the 76th minute accounted for the Ferris goal.

“We had some chances in the first half but we didn’t take advantage of them,” said Ferris head coach Roberto Escobar. “We have a lot of new guys in new positions and we’re still getting used to that. This didn’t seem like a 4-1 game, but good teams make you pay for your mistakes and that was the difference.”

It was still a one-goal lead when a takedown just outside the top of the box gave the Rams a 20-yard direct kick. Oramas’ kick deflected off the wall of Ferris defenders and into the back of the net to double the Rams’ lead to 2-0 less than five minutes into the second half.

“The shot didn’t go exactly where I wanted to being that it hit the wall, but it went in and that’s all that matters,” said Oramas. “This team really backs each other up and sticks up for each other. We just tried in the second half to focus on not letting the ball bounce and step up to every loose ball.”

Ferris pushed forward to get back in the game, which left it open to the counter attack and one of those counter attacks proved to be the backbreaker. Oramas sent a through ball to Luis Liang near the corner flag. He then beat a defender along the goal line and scored from a tough angle to make it a three-goal lead with 15 minutes to play.

Adam Cassidy (left) made some key early saves to keep Dickinson even until its offense could take over.

Cassidy was aggressive throughout and finished with four saves for Dickinson (5-1). Mark Chavez capped the scoring on an 18-yard blast in the final minute of regulation.

Ferris averted a shutout on a penalty kick that went off the post and in from Santiago Paulino in the 76th minute.

Dickinson has turned some heads in Hudson County during the first two weeks of the season. Whether the Rams are truly contenders for a deep run in the Hudson County Tournament will become clearer next week when they face Kearny and St. Peter’s Prep in consecutive games. Regardless of the outcome there, the Rams’ pride is back and they are excited for any challenges that are headed their way.

“There is a lot of pride at stake when Dickinson and Ferris play each other. We had to come out with everything we had,” added Portillo. “We put the ball on target today and we were dangerous because of it. Coming back after coaching in college for the past five years, I’m excited about building this program back up. We have three of the top five teams in the county over the next 10 days. We have to prepare ourselves mentally for that grind and see what happens.”

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