Ramapo’s Big Green Soccer Machine

Paul Heenehan says it was a “perfect storm,” and that would at least partially explain the downpour of Ramapo girls soccer wins over the past three-plus decades.

It was back in the late 1970s when the stars aligned, the earth moved and fate shined down— the result of which was that the foundation was laid for what would become one of the state’s most renowned soccer programs.

For starters, there was the introduction to Title IX, which ensured equal opportunities for both boys and girls in athletics. Then there was the acceptance and instant popularity of soccer as a youth sport for girls. And finally—there was the formation of the varsity team at Ramapo.

Heenehan, who enters his 33^rd season beginning with Saturday’s season opener at Fair Lawn (5 p.m.), is the only coach the program has ever known. While he remains its most visible figure,  a quick look to his left and to his right exposes the brain trust that comprises the Ramapo soccer machine—one that simply doesn’t participate in down or rebuilding years.

Year after year, Heenehan watches new talent emerge from what he calls “the shadows” of the JV and freshman programs to keep the Lady Raiders among the state’s elite. They come from the handful of club programs in the area, and in addition to the coaching they receive along the way, Heenehan is quick to credit the work of his colleagues at the “sub-varsity” level for grooming the talent to sustain Ramapo’s incredible run of success.

“These girls are only hearing me say the same things they’ve heard from the Freshman and JV coaches—albeit, a little more forcefully,” says Heenehan.  “We’ve been blessed not only with terrific coaching at the sub-varsity level, but also tremendous consistency.”

Leslie Stephen may be a softball legend, but she’s also coached the JV team for 25 years now. Cortney Glaubach has been running the freshman team for eight years, and Sandy Gordon has been Heenehan’s sidekick on the sidelines for five. Both are products of the program, as are assistants Coleen Spafford and Ashley Shaban.

“Our players come to us with solid skills from a lot of years of training and are very familiar with the expectations of the varsity team,” said Stephen. “An important part of our roles is to reinforce that a lot of them would be three-year starters in other programs, but at Ramapo there’s a depth chart, and you have to have patience to wait your turn.”

The coaches are among those responsible for the bar being set so high. Gordon, an ’84 grad, won four county championships and two state titles, while Glaubach captained the ’96 national championship squad. Spafford’s teams went 52-0 her junior and senior years (’96-97), and Shaban was a pinwheel on the ’01 county championship team. Think they can explain that a crack at a state title is worth waiting for?

“We remind them regularly that it’s a very special thing to wear the Ramapo jersey,” said Glaubach, who returned to the sidelines to launch the freshman team after playing for The College of New Jersey. For her, like the others, it appears Ramapo soccer will be a way of life.

“Coach Heenehan has been a mentor for me for a long time, and when I was having a tough time at the collegiate level and questioning my being there, he was there for me and he got me through it,” she added. “He’ll do the same for a lot of these girls.”

Those girls who might be returnees include Amanda Baumgarten (forward/midfielder), Devon Schulte (midfielder), Caroline Chagaras (forward), Madeline Dalie (back), Jen Andresen (forward),Sam Jurgens (back), Hailey Roccio, and keeper Allie Gilard.

Dalie is making the move from sweeper to midfield, from where, she’ll utilize her lethal shot from the outside, or dish the ball off to what should be one of the most potent one-two attacks in the county—that of Andresen, a junior, and sophomore Chagares.

Ramapo is no stranger to being the consensus pick to be northern New Jersey’s best team, as they are again this year, but Heenehan insists they’re a work in progress. “We’re not that good yet,” he says. “One of the biggest challenges we face coaching girls who’ve come up through so many different club programs is trying to get them all on the same page.”

As always, the preseason was marked by various alumni dropping by to practice and encouraging this year’s edition of the team to carry the torch as high as ever. If allegiance to the program is any indication, the life lessons gathered during their “Go ‘Po” years stay with the girls long after they’ve graduated.

“To compete and to have success is a wonderful thing,” said Heenehan. “Hopefully, we’re teaching these kids more than soccer.”