Ramapo Girls Soccer Falls Short in County Title Game

Jen Andresen jogged off the field with blood gushing from her nose, and a look of desperation in her eyes.

There were three minutes left in the Bergen County championship game at Indian Hills High School on Saturday afternoon, and Ramapo trailed archrival Northern Highlands, 2-1.

Like an Indy pit crew, the Ramapo sideline scrambled to put Andresen, one of the team’s top offensive weapons, back together and back on the field.

Before Andresen could return, however, Highlands struck again to complete the scoring and seal its first county championship in six years with a 3-1 triumph.

A few minutes later—after accepting a consolation prize—Raiders coach Paul Heenehan found consolation in the fact that so late in the game, Ramapo still believed.

“Amazing, we could be down 2-0 with less than six minutes left and still feel like we had a chance,” said Heenehan. “After we fell behind 2-0, not one of my kids hung their heads. Not that Northern Highlands didn’t deserve it, but we were a bit unlucky today. Nonetheless, I’m ecstatic with the effort we put forth.”

The longer Heenehan talked about his team—19-2 this season, with both losses coming to Highlands—the more obvious it became that the 33^rd-year coach has been moved by this team more than any in recent years.

“This is the most coachable group I’ve had in a long time,” he said. “The snowstorm and the power outage prevented us from practicing for four days and that’s tough on us because we build on what we do together each day. Or maybe I just feel that way because I missed being around them.”

Before Heenehan got lulled into waxing poetic about his team, he snapped back to reality and began to focus on the next task at hand: a state sectional semifinal against Wayne Hills Monday at 2 p.m. at home.

“It’s going to take an amazing effort for us to regroup by Monday,” said Heenehan. “Wayne Hills is more skilled than either us or Highlands, but we’ll have to find a way to play 80 minutes, which we weren’t able to do today.”

Ramapo’s best scoring chance came 16 minutes into the second half when Caroline Chagares broke in alone on Highlands’ keeper Brooke Holle, whose sliding save—as well as one on a rebound attempt by Andresen—was likely the turning point of the game. Heenehan allowed that not capitalizing on the play “took some wind from our sails.”

Less than seven minutes later, Highlands got on the board when Madison Holleran scored from close range.  With 5:15 remaining, Carly Leipzig made it 2-0.

Ramapo’s Kasey Finn scored with 3:39 remaining to make it a game again briefly, but Highlands’ Hana Kerner put one in off the post inside the two-minute mark to end the Raiders’ bid for their first county crown since 2003.

Ramapo was outplayed by a worthy—and still unbeaten—champion, albeit one that felt like they started slowly.

“We didn’t execute in the first half,” said Highlands coach Tara Madigan, “but our effort was relentless throughout. The last few weeks have been a roller coaster with the snowstorm and the rescheduling, but we stayed focused and stayed together. We consist of 20 individuals, but we’re a true team.”

The regular season finale for both teams was also a casualty to weather and needs to be made up to determine the league championship. Ramapo hopes to have two state tournament wins under their belts by then—and momentum back on their side for the re-match, which could possibly be Saturday.

Said Heenehan: “It was a disappointing result for us today, but we’ll be stronger from the experience.”