Late Go-Ahead Goal Lifts Ramapo Past Ridgewood

Ramapo senior soccer forward Ariel Naftali came in as a substitute and took a Jen Andresen pass to the back of the net with just over two minutes left in a back-and-forth 4-3 win over Ridgewood Tuesday.

"Ariel has put her time in, and I couldn't be happier for any kid on this team," said head coach Paul Heenehan. "She brought all the composure in the world on the field and was at the right place at the right time like we tell our kids to be."

The Ramapo squad looked dominant at the start, controlling time of possession in the early going and striking often with Andresen and fellow forward Carolina Chagares leading the charge.

After several missed shots on goal, Andresen notched the first of her two scores on the day in the 13th minute. The Raiders outshot Ridgewood 8-3 in the first half and kept the ball on the Maroon side of the field for much of the frame.

Ridgewood, playing without star midfielder Julie Campbell, persisted and got on the board when a corner off the foot of Katie Garbarini crossed perfectly off the head of Tara Porfido and to the back of the net.

"I pulled up Porfino to give us some punch up there," said Ridgewood coach Jeff Yearing. "Our game plan was to utilize our set pieces because we knew we had to score when we could against one of the top teams in the county."

The Maroons took the momentum out of the half and took their first lead of the game on another set piece off the foot of Porfido. This time the ball stayed around the penalty area long enough for Charlotte Criqui to send it home in the 43rd minute.

"We were shooting ourselves in the foot with the way we were playing," said Heenehan. "You have to give Ridgewood credit for forcing us to do that. They were playing good space, when we were playing the feet they were intercepting."

But the Raiders regrouped and played with some of the same sort of flare that saw them take the early lead. Sydney Cantor took a shot in the 59th minute that landed in front of Chagares, who sent it past keeper Michelle Savuto to tie the game at 2-2.

Ridgewood took the lead on a Garbarini goal in the 72^nd minute, but Andresen once again tied the game with her second score just a minute later. At that point, the game play suggested another Ramapo goal was evident.

"We were finding each other on a series of passes," said Heenehan. "That's when we started playing our game. All our goals in the second half came off 1, 2, 3 passes."

The final and most important came down the field through Chagares, Andresen and finally to Naftali, who sent a tough shot in from an awkward side angle.

"I got the pass from Jen on the right side, I took a few touches and slide it past the goalie," said Naftali.

"I think we just worked well together overall," said Andresen."We finished really good. When we were down we didn't just stop."

The Raiders (2-0) face Paramus Catholic Thursday. Ridgewood (1-1) takes on Passaic County Tech at home.