VIDEO: Injured Boomhower Leads Team To Thrilling Win

Video by Steve Moss

WAYNE—With each save he made in the third period, it took Carl Boomhower a little longer to get up off the ice.

It was painful to watch, but Ramapo’s most important player kept making the saves in the late stages of Thursday night’s second round Public B state championship game against Kinnelon at the Ice Vault. Ditto for the overtime and then in the shootout—by which time Boomhower was practically a one-legged goalie.

The Raiders rallied around their gutty leader’s inspirational effort, and nearly three hours after the game began—after the Ramapo faithful sang “Happy Birthday” to Boomhower during the pre-game warm-up, and after Dan Thompson and Dan Collins scored in the shootout—had Ramapo secured a 4-3, come-from-behind win over the (No. 12) Colts.

“Carl’s been carrying the team all year—all four of his seasons on the team—but you won’t see a kid sacrifice his body like he did tonight very often,” said coach Lee Barber. “My wife might kill me for saying this, but if we have another kid, we’re naming him Carl.”

While Ramapo had trouble solving Colts’ goalie Jason Braimon, who turned away 34 of 37 shots in regulation and overtime, it was Boomhower who limped across the finish line first.

The four-year varsity starter aggravated his left hamstring in practice yesterday, but shook it off until about midway through the game when he stretched to make a glove save, and felt a twinge.

Boomhower, who plays for two teams and often is on the ice 10 times a week, has been coping with all kinds of lower body issues the past two years, including a hip flexor, a groin strain, and now a hamstring.

Following the game, the friendly senior said he was headed home to celebrate what was left of his 18th birthday with a “seat on the couch and a bag of ice” on his wound.

“I tried my best just to forget about it,” he said. “I just tried to suck it up one save at a time. The guys really worked hard to protect me, and the referees asked over and over if I was ready to come out of the game. I told them there’s no way I can end my high school hockey career anywhere but in the net.”

Ramapo took leads of 1-0, and 2-1, on second period goals by Dan Thompson and Matt Mintz, but fell behind when Kyle Verblauw scored four minutes into the third period. The Colts had that lead until Raider freshman Sean Johnson cashed in on a 3-on-1 with less than six minutes remaining to tie the score at 3-3. Johnson carried the puck into the Kinnelon zone, and held onto it until, as he put it, “the spot between the goalies’ pad looked as wide as a Christmas tree.”

Boomhower stopped four of five shots in the shootout, as Ramapo—like they always seem to—found a cause to bond over.

“Carl’s been our best player game-in and game-out all year long,” said Dan Collins. “None of us need any more motivation than we found from watching him play as great as he always does on one leg.”

While the victory is one they might like to savor, there simply is no time. There’s practice tomorrow after school—for everyone except Boomhower--and a 2 p.m. showdown with (fourth-seeded) Mahwah Saturday at the Mennen Arena in Morristown. Chances are good Ramapo won't discuss Thursday's win as much as they will late December’s 6-1 thrashing at the hands of Mahwah, a game Barber calls “our worst game of the season.”

Ramapo reached the quarterfinals in the state tournament last year, where they lost in overtime. This time around, the Raiders are, according to Collins, just getting warmed up.

“We established a goal during our first meeting of the year that we wanted to play for the state championship at The Rock [Prudential Center]. We’re happy we won tonight, but we won’t be satisfied if our season ends any other way.”