Mary Grusser's hat trick spurred Ramapo to a 5-1 win over Saddle River Day in the Bergen County Tournament quarterfinals.

ALLENDALE – Although Ramapo was in familiar territory, it was up against an unfamiliar opponent, which might have been a concern for a less experienced team. Used to playing in big games, Ramapo has a calm presence on the pitch and instead of being hyper focused on what the opposing team’s formation or tendencies, the Green Raiders focused on what they do well: Setting the tone, making quick decisions, and finding the back of the net.

They did all three of those with precision throughout. Mary Grusser opened the scoring and added two more for the hat trick as second-seeded Ramapo advanced to the Bergen County Tournament semifinals with a 5-1 victory over No. 7 seed Saddle River Day on Saturday at Northern Highlands Regional High School in Allendale.

“Not knowing too much about (Saddle River Day) we focused more on our gameplan and utilizing the width of the field to create our attack,” said Ramapo junior Grace Saxton. “It is always a goal for us to play to feet and make quick decisions to keep the defense guessing. In a game like this it is crucial to get off to a strong start like we did today.”

Ramapo set the tone right from the opening whistle, nearly scoring 20 seconds into the match. Saddle River Day senior goalie Jillian Gomez made three great saves in the game’s first nine minutes. She could only hold off the Green Raiders for so long as a couple of miscues in the back put Ramapo in control.

Off a turnover, Ashley DeLeo played a through ball into space. Grusser ran on and hammered it into an open net to give the Raiders the lead. The Rebels stemmed the tide for a bit, but the offensive wave of Ramapo never ceased. They played quick and played wide all game long to stretch the defense out and create gaps to attack.

“I saw the goalie come off her line and knew I had to take the shot,” said Grusser. “Anytime our opponent makes a mistake we want to capitalize on it and get a scoring chance out of it. Our team works so well together and we’re always looking for ways to improve. This is an exciting time of year, and we want to keep playing as long as we can.”

Saddle River Day senior goalie Jillian Gomez made three great saves in the game’s first nine minutes.

Then off of another turnover in the back, Bridget Cannon ran onto it and drilled a low-liner past Gomez to make it 2-0. Just before the end of the half, Grusser, a Fairfield commit, struck again to give Ramapo a comfortable 3-0 cushion at the half.

“We want to not only stretch out the opposing team’s defense vertically but also horizontally,” said junior back Maddie Saxton. “If we keep the ball on the ground and keep connecting passes it forces the other team to chase. We also like to vary our attack by playing out of the back both to our midfielders and our outside backs. It mixes things up and makes us more unpredictable in our attack.”

Saddle River Day (13-2) settled in better during the second half and got on the scoreboard with a goal from Hannah Pappalardo. But this was Ramapo’s day; in particular Grusser’s day. She struck again to complete the hat trick and Kyra Magerco, who was a handful along the right flank all game, capped the scoring.

Ramapo was expecting to get another showdown with archrival Northern Highlands in the BCT semifinals next. Saturday. However, the Highlanders were upset by No. 6 Northern Valley/Old Tappan in a wild 5-4 affair. Regardless of the opponent, the Green Raiders are keeping their focus on moving one step closer to their goal of being Bergen County champions.

“It’s super competitive from here on out,” added Grace Saxton. “Old Tappan is going to be a very tough opponent. We’ll have to be ready to step up our game and improve upon the little things if we’re going to get to the county final.”

FOR MORE PHOTOS FROM THIS EVENT PLEASE CLICK HERE. TO BUY A COLLECTOR'S PRINT OF THIS STORY PLEASE VISIT 4-FeetGrafix.com.