Ramsey takes down Demarest in championship shootout by Bob Shwalb special to The Record
RAMSEY – Caroline Schwanewede was in “total shock.
The Ramsey junior forward had no other words to describe the feeling after her penalty kick sailed into an unguarded right side of the net, giving her side a 4-3 shootout victory over NV/Demarest and this year’s North 1, Group 2 championship. The Rams and Norsewomen ended regulation tied at 3.
“Emma Miller is an amazing goalie,” Schwanewede said of her rivals’ University of Colorado-bound keeper. “I knew I had to go to the same side I always shoot at and be confident in myself. And that’s what I did.”
Schwanewede’s goal ignited a mega-celebration on the field and in the stands as Ramsey captured its first state sectional title since 2011.
Olivia Molinari, Marisa McEntee and Schwanewede scored regulation goals for the Rams while Chloe Gavalakis, Helene Tyburczy and Molinari also contributed to their side’s decisive 4-3 win in the shootout.
“Being league champs and now state sectional champs … it’s an unbelievable feeling,” Ramsey senior captain Melanie Mack said.
To add a state sectional crown alongside this year’s Big North American trophy, Ramsey rallied from a 3-1 second-half deficit and also needed one huge save from senior captain and keeper Katie Sylvester in the shootout.
“When we went into overtime, I was praying we’d get a goal,” Sylvester said. “Then we got to the second overtime and I was even more nervous. I was waiting and praying for us to score because penalty kicks are awful.”
In the shootout, Sylvester stopped NV/Demarest’s second attempt. The keeper was leaning to her right as Kate Scuro struck the ball, but kept her left hand back and managed to knock it down.
Later in the shootout, Ramsey led 3-2 when Sylvester nearly ended it. Norsewoman Victoria Constantine faced a do-or-die situation but Sylvester dove to her right and got a hand on the ball, only to watch it spin over her hand and roll slowly into the corner.
“I saw it spinning over the line and my heart sank a little bit,” Sylvester said. “That put all the pressure on (Schwanewede) but she did an amazing job.”
Game balls
There wouldn’t have been a shootout in the first place if not for clutch regulation goals by McEntee and Schwanewede.
NV/Demarest seemed to have total control of the contest after taking a 3-1 lead just 6:44 into the second half. But Schwanewede scored 68 seconds later, drilling in a rebound off a corner kick from in front. Seventy-eight seconds after that, McEntee tied it off a mix-up in front between NV/Demarest’s goalie and a defender.
“We were down 3-1 with 30 minutes to go,” Ramsey coach Kevin Sabella said. “I’ve been around a while and I’ve seen teams that have folded in that situation. But I knew that wasn’t going to happen with these girls because they’re a special group. They battled back and tied it up.”
“Obviously we were getting a little nervous,” Schwanewede added. “But we got together in the middle of the field and told each other, ‘We can’t be nervous right now. We still have 35 minutes left and we can do this.’ We knew it was our last chance to prove ourselves.”
By the numbers
How do you score a goal with “0:00” on the clock?
That’s what everyone (but the referee) was wondering after NV/Demarest’s Emily Holzer rippled the cord at the very end of the first half. Fans, players and coaches looked up at the clock and saw that there was no time left and were left wondering what happened.
The referee explained that his watch “beeped” a split-second after Holzer’s shot went in, meaning the half had expired. As a result, the goal counted and there was no restart.
Mystery solved.
They said it
“I just got lucky.”
— Ramsey’s Tyburczy, who actually made a spectacular, game-saving play in the closing seconds of regulation. NV/Demarest’s Carly Sherman created some space in front and appeared to have a wide-open left side of the net. Her left-footed laser was headed in but Tyburczy came out of nowhere and stopped it with her right thigh.