With a 1-0 victory over Garfield in the Bergen County Tournament final, Ramapo celebrated its fourth straight championship.
OAKLAND – Because Ramapo strung passes together so well, because it moved the ball so quickly and because it dominated possession, senior goalkeeper Michael Latronica did not have all that much to do...until he did.
With just over one minute to play in regulation and with Garfield throwing everything it had forward in the Bergen County Tournament final, Latronica had yet to make a save of a shot on goal. Then Martin Cvozek played a long free kick into the scrum just inside the penalty area and the ball bounced back onto the foot of Garfield’s Julius Mesa, a dangerous striker who saw the sea part in front of him.
Mesa did his job as he hit a cracker with pace and on frame and it was Latronica’s chance to respond in kind.
“Honestly, I don’t even remember [how it all happened],” said Latronica. “I just saw the kid [Mesa] shoot and I knew it was just about reaction. I went low with my right hand and tried to parry it out. I knew I wasn’t going to be able to squeeze it, so I just had to deflect it.”
Latronica’s last minute save made Jordan Hunt’s goal four minutes earlier stand up as the game-winner as Ramapo continued its mastery of the Jerry Lewis BCCA Soccer Tournament with a 1-0 victory over Garfield on Saturday night at Indian Hills High School in Oakland.
Ramapo has now won 17 Bergen County championships under head coach Evan Baumgarten and for the second time the Green Raiders have won four consecutive titles with the last time coming from 2014-17. The success permeates all levels of the program and it is a source of strength and pride for each successive group that puts on the green and white.
Ramapo kept Garfield senior keeper Jakub Piszczatowski busy all night long
“We all have experience. Every single person on this team has been in a county final whether it is freshmen, JV or varsity, so we all kind of knew what to do when it came down to it,” said Jake Weis, a senior who knows that Ramapo is the circled opponent on every opposing teams schedule. “It’s every game, not just the tournament. Every team knows that we are Ramapo and they are going to bring 110 percent effort. We are here for it and we prepare for it every game.”
Garfield has its own pedigree of success and it is the Boilermakers not Ramapo that is the reigning Group 3 state champion and they had the added motivation of a county tournament rematch. Ramapo’s win in last season’s Round of 16 was Garfield’s only loss in 2023 and while there has been some attrition up front and in the midfield, the Boilermakers’ back line is intact and considered one of the best in the state.
Would Ramapo be able to find a way through? The answer was an emphatic yes. Keeping the ball on the ground, linking up all three levels, stretching the flanks and then cutting inside the Raiders built an overwhelming advantage in possession and never let Garfield, which was playing in a county final for the first time in program history, find its rhythm. Ramapo kept Jakub Piszczatowski busy, forcing the senior keeper into six first half saves and countless other interventions.
“It starts with our backs. When you are trying to unlock their back row, it starts with our back row. Moving the ball and trying to switch the angle of attack,” said Baumgarten. “I thought our guys did a good job of that.”
Julian Cuttita’s and Caden O’Connell’s constant probing, Damian DiLisio’s speed up top, Jordan Hunt’s forays through the middle of the park supported by Weis’ physical style led to Ramapo’s possession advantage, but with nearly 75 minutes played, the Green Raiders were still without a goal.
Jordan Hunt's goal gave Ramapo the 17th county championship in program history.
Piszczatowski stood on his head, Garfield cleaned up its messes as was just 5:14 away for forcing overtime before Ramapo finally finished one of its myriad chances. It was Hunt, who arrived in Franklin Lakes before last season from California, who etched his name in program lore.
Hunt hammered one inside the left post off a feed from Cuttita.
“All season my coaches have been telling me to shoot. I am not really the biggest shooter from long range, but Cuttita played a good ball, he passed it to me and I just shot it, I put my best foot behind it and it went in,” said Hunt, a junior. “I feel like we had a lot of good chances especially with Caden [O’Connell] and Julian crossing them in and it was just a matter of time.”
There were technical adjustments to be made to handle Garfield’s undeniable skill and in game decisions to try to take advantage of what was unfolding on the field, but those are just a small piece of the puzzle. Everyone wants to know Ramapo’s secret to success, the master plan that Baumgarten has crafted and maintained now well into its second (third?) generation. Baumgarten won his first county championship at Ramapo in 1986…NINETEEN EIGHTY SIX!
His coaching tree has many branches and includes Drew Strohmeyer, the head coach of the Ramsey girls soccer program that grabbed a share of the 2024 Bergen County title on Saturday afternoon amongst many others. Baumgarten deflects all praise and loathes nothing more than answering questions about his success, and he kept it short when asked, ‘What makes you a good coach?”
“I care about the kids and I have been fortunate over all of the years with kids that like to work hard and like to play for each other,” said Baumgarten. “When you have that…I am just real proud of them.”
The long answer will have to wait for the unauthorized biography because after the postgame celebrations the focus was going to quickly switch to the North 1, Group 3 state sectional tournament that gets underway on Tuesday. Ramapo, the top seed which has not won a state title since its undefeated (22-0) season in 2016, will host Fort Lee in the opening round.
“We’ve gone out in the states the last five or six years either by penalty kicks or overtime and the kids are cognizant of that. They want to do better, but it is a challenge. It is always a challenge especially after playing in this tournament,” said Baumgarten. “Bergen County is a little different. We have 54 teams, so winning the county tournament is a big deal.”
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