Boys Soccer – Ramapo finishes a perfect season with a near perfect performance

Sebastian Varela scored twice and assisted on the other goal for Ramapo, which finished off a perfect season with a 3-0 win over Toms River South in the Group 3 state final on Sunday.

UNION – Ramapo entered the final day of the 2016 soccer season as the lone undefeated team left in the state, but there were some close calls along the way. The Green Raiders faced two one-goal deficits during their state playoff run; they needed overtime to knock out Hopewell Valley in the state semifinals on Tuesday and showed that they could win the close ones against quality competition. In the Group 3 state final there was no such late-game anxiety.

Instead the coaching staff’s biggest concern down the stretch was making sure it ran as many players as it could off the bench and onto the pitch to get a feel for what it is like to win a state championship. The Green Raiders dominated play from start to finish and won the program’s seventh outright state title, 3-0, over Toms River South at Kean University in Union.

“It is indescribable what this means to us and I would not want to do it with any other group of guys,” said Ramapo junior striker Andrew Furman. “We just went in every day in practice and in games and gave it our all.  We have become so close over these past three months and it is just amazing to have it finish like this.”

Ramapo chose to put itself at a disadvantage in the first half as it chose to play against the wind and not just any wind. It was howling consistently and then it would gust to the point even balls played on the ground were obviously effected. That being said, Ramapo still controlled possession, still had the heavy edge in created chances and instead of merely surviving the first 40 minutes, the Green Raiders thrived.

They sent the first shot across the bow of Toms River South in the seventh minute when Keanaan Malke used the wind to help shape a curler from the left side and about 25 yards out that spun just wide of the upper 90 on the opposite side. Five minutes later, Ramapo grabbed the lead for good with some hustle and then some poise.

Andrew Furman goes airborne to celebrate Ramapo’s second goal, which he scored 15 minutes after halftime.

Noah Kilday had his own corner kick knocked right back toward him near the endline on the left. Kilday won an aerial battle for possession and then slid the ball back into the area for junior Sebastian Valera, who took possession and took his time in a stressful situation. Varela, a junior who has made game-winning goals in playoff games a habit over the past three years, saw an empty lower right corner and hit it to give Ramapo the lead for good.

“[Noah Kilday] fought for it, he took a touch and he saw me inside. I just took a touch and placed it into the right hand corner,” said Varela, who finished his junior season with 20 goals and 17 assists. “We strategically picked to go against the wind in the first half just so that if we were down or tied in the second half we would have the advantage, but getting that goal gave us momentum and the belief that we could win.”

The chances kept coming. Ramapo had a free kick opportunity from the top corner of the area generated by a Malke attack, but the restart went wide right just over one minute after the Raiders had taken the lead. Matthew O’Shea broke up a clearance attempt and got in on the left before finding Varela, whose shot was just wide of the right post in the 30th minute and then a clinical attack in the final minute of the first half had everything but the finish.

Varela started the play by winning a ball in the midfield before getting it back on the tail end of a three-pass combination. Varela hit Andrew Brunetti, who found O’Shea, who shuffled it back to Varela, who chipped the keeper from close range only to see the sweet shot clang off the left post. The follow up shot finished high of the mark.

Noah Kilday assisted on Ramapo’s first goal, which turned into the game-winner.

Toms River South (17-4-2), which was making its second straight appearance in the Group 3 state final, was held to just a couple of half chances in the first half even with the wind at its back. One of the best was almost a byproduct of the weather as a corner kick that was struck high and toward the arc at the top of the area actually blew so far back that it forced Ramapo keeper Conor Young to get up at his right post to grab it in the 34th minute. Young also punched away a twisting free kick two minutes later to get his team into the intermission with the lead.

“Considering the weather, the wind was really bad and we went against it in the first half, but I still thought we kept the ball pretty good,” said Ramapo head coach Evan Baumgarten. “Back at home it wasn’t even windy, then we show up here and it is blowing 30 miles-an-hour, but our kids kept it on the ground, kept connections going and it was a whole group effort. It was not one guy, they are all out there playing for each other.”

With the added advantage of Mother Nature after the break, the outcome was never in doubt. Ramapo added to its lead 15 minutes into the second half when Malke won a ball near the touchline at midfield and raced up the right side against a tiring Indians’ defense. Malke got deep, but the ball back for Varela, who had multiple options. He already had TRS keeper Dom Pizzi committed at his feet and had plenty of goal to shoot at, but he chose instead to put one on a tee for Furman, who hammered it into the empty net to make it 2-0.

Ramapo’s Keanaan Malke is part of a talented junior class that will be back for another run at history next season.

Varela scored on a free kick from the middle of the park with 16:29 to go to close the scoring. He hit a hard knuckler that Pizzi did well just to get a mitt on with an all-out dive to his left, but there was too much pace on the ball and in it went to make it 3-0. That left time in the final minutes for everyone to get involved.

When the final horn sounded, it was time to tally up the accomplishments. Ramapo (22-0) became the first New Jersey boys soccer team to go through a season undefeated and untied since Christian Brothers did it in 2011. The Green Raiders allowed just seven goals on the season and did not allow more than one in any of their 22 contests. It was the seventh state title under head coach Evan Baumgarten, the first since 2012 and the first to be won with no losses and no ties.

“The kids just played and the result of that is 22-0 and it is all about the relationships that have been built here,” said Baumgarten. “It’s a good feeling because these kids, on the soccer field and off the soccer field, are good people that I love being associated with.”