Ramapo Finding its Stride Early in Unbeaten Season

Some like a cup of coffee while others simply prefer a wake-up call.

Sunday night, the Ramapo boys soccer team needed a shot of coaching perspective.

"Coach really gave us an earful at halftime," said senior Tom Garrambone after the Raiders secured a 3-0 home-field win over Paramus Catholic to improve to 3-0 on the season. "We had a tough first half, but we found our tempo, and we feel like we're starting to click."

Mike Taranto scored in each half, and Sean Etheridge closed out the scoring in a second half completely dominated by Ramapo. Perhaps more importantly, the young and unbeaten Raiders appear to be finding their stride and their confidence in a season still less than 10 days old.

"We're a young team—there are times we have four or five sophomores and two or three freshmen on the field," said coach Evan Baumgarten. "Once we started playing the ball on the ground, and making more unselfish plays, things started to happen."

Taranto got Ramapo on the board 23 minutes into the first half when he converted a loose ball from close range. The sophomore's goal might have been the only scoring chance by either team in the entire first half.

"We came out flat in the first half," said senior Aresh Mahtabfar. "We held them down defensively in the first half, and we waited for things to open up. That's part of our game plan—to stay patient and controlled."

So dominant was Ramapo in the second half that goalkeeper Mike DeVito didn't need to handle the ball until there were just more than 10 minutes remaining. Baumgarten didn't have much to say from the sideline during the first half, but his halftime words must have hit home, as Ramapo ran roughshod over Paramus Catholic (0-3) over the final 40 minutes.

Chris Nash was denied on a sliding save by Paramus goalkeeper Eric Iannacone just 4:30 into the second half, and the Raiders simply kept pouring it on.

Taranto capitalized off another scramble 8:35 into the half, and Etheridge converted on a 2-on-1 with 15 minutes left. Vincent Brunetti was denied on strong saves by the beleaguered Iannacone twice in the final 10 minutes—once on a header and once on a redirection.

"Once we started connecting balls we found our game," added Garrambone. "We came out sloppy early and didn't concentrate on getting the ball to the next player. We've become a close-knit team already, and we're only going to get better."