Jordan Hunt's hat trick helped push Ramapo past Tenafly, 5-0, on Saturday in the semifinals of the Bergern County Tournament.

WALDWICK – The conventional definition of 'smothering defense' in soccer usually denotes a well-organized back line that keeps everything in front, is hard to break down and cuts down shooting angles around the edge of the penalty area. Ramapo, the No. 2 seed in the Jerry Lewis BCCA Varsity Tournament and the four-time defending champion, has turned that on its head.

This year's Ramapo side plays defense where the ball is and that is usually where you can find senior Jordan Hunt. Technically an attacking player, Hunt is the tip of the spear for a Raiders defense that prefers to give its opponent zero time to contemplate its options. If Hunt does not that the ball at his feet, he is running full speed somewhere to take it off someone else's.

"That is something that we take pride in as a program; being the hardest workers," said Hunt, one of the 17 seniors on the Ramapo roster. "We train really hard during practice and obviously it shows. Our guys are playing the whole game, working hard and never really breaking a sweat, so I am really proud of these boys."

A good defense leads to a good offense and in that way, Hunt set himself up for a big night. His constant pressure up top led to myriad opportunities and Hunt, who scored the lone goal in last season's Bergen County championship game, is also a proven finisher. Hunt netted his second career hat trick with goals in the 18th, 42nd and 72nd minute as Ramapo moved to within one win of a fifth straight Bergen County championship with a 5-0 win over third-seeded and previously unbeaten Tenafly on Saturday night at Waldwick High School.

Hunt opened the scoring knocking in a corner kick and Caden O'Connell's chip of the keeper at the end of a full speed run to make it 2-0 midway through the first half and after the break Ramapo choked off any routes that Tenafly might have had to get back in the game.

Jason Baer made 12 saves on a busy night near the Tenafly goal.

"In the second half we really clamped down. We got a lot of players around the ball defensively. I think that helped because they all worked together," said Ramapo head coach Evan Baumgarten. "[Tenafly] can find openings because they have some really class players, top class guys up front. It started with our forwards back-pressing, back-defending."

Tenafly, which scored 53 goals through its first 14 games of the season, all wins, was put under pressure early by Ramapo, which generated a couple of quality chances in the first five minutes. The Green Raiders had yet to score but were steadily building a possession advantage. And then, in the ninth minute they nearly fell behind. A deflected ball popped onto the foot of Peter Bell DeMiguel and he shot back across goal toward the unguarded lower right-hand corner. Bell DeMiguel's shot banked off the post and out.

Tenafly (14-1) had another quality chance with the game still scoreless in the 16th minute when Davin Shin got a half-step on the last defender and found himself in a duel with Ramapo keeper Julian Lora, who broke the play up just in time and then started the rush the other way. The counterattack led to a Jacob Preziosi corner kick, which led to Hunt's first goal as he redirected the restart into the net for the 1-0 lead with 22:15 left in the first half. It was all Ramapo after that.

One minute after going ahead, the Raiders doubled their lead with Preziosi sending O'Connell down the channel and a chip of the on-rushing Jason Baer. It was 2-0 at the half, Hunt scored his second goal of the game 1:45 into the second half, Julian Cuttita headed in a Preziosi free kick at the left post and Hunt finished off his hat trick with the game's final goal in the 72nd minute. Preziosi, the engine in the middle of the field who has a knack for the perfectly weighted ball, assisted on four of Ramapo's five goals.

Jacob Preziosi finished with four assists for Ramapo, which will play Bergen Catholic in the championship match..

"We all have had that chemistry for a long time, so as soon as we get the ball we know we want go and we are always looking to combine and get the ball forward as quickly as possible," said O'Connell, another member of Ramapo's heavy senior class. "Tenafly is a great team with a very solid defense, but we were able to find the gaps and work together. We were able to get a couple of shots off that resulted well."

The positive result ran Ramapo's record to 13-1 on the season with the lone loss coming early in the regular season in overtime against Bergen Catholic, which will be the Raiders' opponent in next weekend's championship match. The top-seeded Crusaders squeezed by Ridgewood, 2-1, in the first semifinal on Saturday and will be wearing the home jerseys when they try to end Ramapo's four-year reign at Indian Hills.

It should be a barnburner.

"It's going to be tough," said Baumgarten. "They are a great team and it is going to be a big challenge."

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