Saturday, October 31, 2015

By Cory K. Doviak
NJS.com Editorial Director

Dylan Rocchio celebrates after his goal late in the first half gave Ramapo the lead for good in a 3-0 win over Tenafly in the Bergen County Tournament final.

FRANKLIN LAKES – From the opening whistle, literally, Tenafly had signaled its intentions. Right off the opening kick, the Tigers took a rip from midfield that was well-struck and surprisingly well-placed and forced Ramapo goalkeeper Colin Nelson to go up and grab it from under the crossbar. And for the first five minutes of Friday night’s Bergen County Tournament championship match, Tenafly continued to get forward.

The rest of the game, however, belonged to Ramapo, the home team and the defending champion. The when and the how of the Green Raiders taking control was pretty easy to determine.

“We started out doing the things we wanted to do. We knocked the ball out, we changed the point of attack and I think we had a couple of fairly good chances first 10 minutes. Then we started to give away the middle of the field,” said Tenafly head coach Bill Jaeger. “And when we gave away the middle of field they were pressuring us, they were stepping up and they were winning balls.”

All of that added up to a 3-0 victory that gave Ramapo its second straight county title, its third in the last four years, its ninth under head coach Evan Baumgarten and the 11th for the program overall, tying it with Don Bosco Prep for the most in the tournament’s 43-year history. Ramapo did not give up a single goal in its four-game run to the trophy this year.

“Basically, we won the midfield. With Sebastian [Varela] and Dylan [Rocchio] and our outside midfielders, we just took it away,” said Baumgarten. “And that was not easy against a great team like Tenafly. I give my kids credit because we all know how good of a team Tenafly really is.”

Evan Rhee drove in one of Tenafly's most dangerous second half chances.

When Tenafly did break through the Ramapo defense of sweeper Joe Kilday, outside backs Mike O’Neill and Billy Collins and central defender Justin Chi were there to not only slow the advance, but also to win the ball and quickly move it forward. That gave Ramapo the distinct advantage in possession and it finally turned that into a lead late in the first half.

Tenafly had almost bought itself enough time to regroup as it was just 1:46 from getting itself to halftime in a still scoreless game, but then Varela made a nifty move in the midfield to get the defense scrambling before sending the ball wide to the right for Noah Kilday, who made a deep supporting run. Noah Kilday then sent in a cross right to the perfect spot. It descended almost right on the goal line, a scrum ensued and Rocchio pushed it inside the left post for the 1-0 lead the Raiders grabbed at halftime.

“The goalie was very tight on his line and very close to his front post, so I saw Dylan and Eddie [Kraebel] hanging on the back post. I thought I might as well put the ball over the top and into the back and see what happens,” said Noah Kilday, a junior. “The ball just happened to drop right there near the goal line and Dylan happened to pop it in. It was a fortunate series of events for us and a great play by Dylan.”

Tenafly had probably its best chance to get back even early in the second half when Evan Rhee drove a hard service on a diagonal from the right. Seth Shachar was tracking it and was in position, but Nelson, whose goals against average for the tournament was 0.00, got up to grab it before trouble might have ensued.

Noah Kilday served in the ball that led to Ramapo's first goal.

With the direction of play going Ramapo’s way for long stretches, the Green Raiders turned a tight game into a party in the 59th minute. Chi won a ball just inside the center stripe and sent Charlie Ortiz running up the right and into space. Ortiz, whose speed on the flanks was a problem for the Tigers all night long, then rolled in a cross that Andrew Furman hammered home on the doorstep for the 2-0 lead.

Operating in space on the right side again in the 72nd minute, Ortiz picked out Mark Walstead’s middle run and the senior striker made it 3-0.

Ramapo’s senior class has now won a county title in three of its four years in the program and Rocchio has been in the starting lineup for all three of them. This one being his last, it holds a little extra meaning.

“I have just been so blessed to be a part of a program like this and be under the coaching staff of Coach Baum[garten] and everyone that is a part of it,” said Rocchio. “To come out in my senior year and win this tournament with these guys truly means everything.”

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