Cassie Tafuri-Delvecchio scored twice in the first half as Ramapo got its mojo back with a 4-0 win over Mahwah in the Bergen County Tournament semifinals on.
ORADELL – After a dominant first half of the season, it came to a crashing halt for the Ramapo girls soccer team last week in a loss to Ridgewood. Suffering their first loss of the season was bad enough but to lose by three goals (4-1) and get dominated in the manner in which they did? The Green Raiders were suddenly faced with lots of questions.
How did that happen? How to get past it? What can be done do to fix it and ensure it never happens again? The first step towards redemption was reaching the Bergen County Tournament final and hope that Ridgewood got there on the other side of the bracket.
Ramapo was on the attack all game long and made it clear that the Ridgewood loss was more an aberration than anything else. Cassie Tafuri-Delvecchio scored twice in the first half as Ramapo got its mojo back with a 4-0 win over Mahwah in the Bergen County Tournament semifinals on Saturday at River Dell High School in Oradell.
“Everyone stepped up and we really woke up today,” said Ramapo head coach Maddie Gibbs. “We made the runs we normally make and we spread the ball around to create scoring chances.”
Mahwah’s best two plays of the game came 90 seconds apart early in the first half. Julia Pecak drilled a long free kick that Ramapo goalie Maddie Kellogg got just enough of her fingertips on the ball to tip it off of the crossbar. Then, after conceding a penalty kick, Mahwah’s sophomore goalie Michaela Tracey dove to her left to make a save on Mary Cochran’s PK attempt.
Michaela Tracey saved a PK and had many other standout saves on a busy day in the Mahwah net.
Although her penalty kick was saved and she did not register a goal in this match, Cochran was her usual dominant presence in the middle of the field. The Georgetown-bound senior controlled the tempo and found various teammates making runs along the flanks. One of those up the left side went to fellow senior Lily Johnson. She carried the ball along the end line before delivering a cross that Tafuri-Delvecchio cut inside a defender to knock it in to give Ramapo the lead in the 18th minute.
Tracey made one spectacular save after another during the contest, but the Green Raiders never stopped pushing forward. It was going to take a great shot to get one past Tracey and that is exactly what Ramapo got. Megan Twomey’s bent a shot from 30 yards out that dipped just under the crossbar and in to make it 2-0. Minutes later, Cochran sent a crafty through ball between two defenders into space. Tafuri-Delvecchio ran onto it and scored to give Ramapo a commanding 3-0 lead at the half.
“We found the wide ball and won the end line a lot to put pressure on their defense,” said Tafuri-Delvecchio. “I think we fixed our mistakes from the Ridgewood loss and came back even stronger today.”
Madison Schiller had the lone second-half goal for Ramapo (15-1). Kellogg had a light day in between the pipes making two saves to earn the shutout.
Kate Langfelder and Ramapo will play Ridgewood in the county final.
Tracey made a season-high 14 saves for Mahwah (11-3-3).
Ramapo has now earned the rubber match they hoped for as Ridgewood beat IHA in the other semifinal. It will be a rematch of the last Bergen County Tournament final, played in 2019 and won by Ramapo (3-1). The teams have split their two regular-season meetings. The Green Raiders are chomping at the bit to not only get revenge on Ridgewood but also defend their Bergen County crown.
“Stretching the field is where we’re at our best and we did that pretty well today,” said Johnson. “We really want to play Ridgewood again. We came out today and played like we know how to play. As a team we all learned a lot in the loss to Ridgewood. I think it will make us a better team in the long run and we’re excited for next weekend.”
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