Junior’s Last-Second Goal Lifts Ramapo Over Wayne Valley, 2-1

WAYNE—His physical education teacher calls him “a nudge,” and the team’s star goalie says he “doesn’t even look old enough to be in high school.”

So youthful is the appearance of junior Ryan Soderlund, who stands all of 5-7 with his skates on—that early last season he was the centerpiece of a trio his teammates dubbed the “Baby Line.”

It was also Soderlund who stood 10 feet tall when he backhanded home a rebound with 1.2 seconds left to lift Ramapo to a 2-1 dramatic triumph over Wayne Valley at the Ice House Friday night. The win put Ramapo (16-4-2) within a point of clinching the Big North Silver Division League championship heading into Sunday’s regular season finale against Old Tappan.

What Soderlund—Ramapo’s leading goal scorer with 17—lacks in size, he makes up for with heart and desire.

“Hockey is a game of passion, and Ryan plays with a ton of it,” said coach Lee Barber. “He takes a beating in front of the net, but he is just so determined to get the job done that he just keeps on fighting through it. A player like that who never quits always gets under the skin of opponents.”

In what looks like a preview of the Big North Silver championship, the teams played even hockey throughout. They traded first period goals, had a similar amount of scoring chances and appeared headed towards a deadlock—a repeat of their Jan. 21 contest.

With 4:10 left, the referee signaled a delayed penalty on Ramapo’s Sean Johnson. Just as the whistle blew, Wayne Valley (13-2-4) picked up a five-minute major for a hit from behind on Raider Riley Heisler, who left the game with bruised ribs.

“When Riley went down that fired us up,” said goalie Carl Boomhower, who shut the door with 20 saves after yielding a goal 3:35 into the game. “It was a dirty hit and we wanted to win it for him. We feel like we’ll see Wayne Valley again, and we can’t wait.”

Jeremy Roberts got Ramapo on the board with just 1:04 remaining in the first period on a deft re-direction off a perfect feed from Johnson. That set the stage for Soderlund’s last-second heroics.

“Getting such an important goal so late in the game is surreal—it’s what you dream about playing in your driveway as a kid,” said Soderlund. “I try to use my size to my advantage and stay low to the ice, and I just work as hard as I can out there each shift. These big wins these last two weeks have brought us closer together as a team. It’s that time of the year—and we’ve picked it up to beat two good teams.”

Coming off last weekend’s 2-1 win over Ramsey, Ramapo has served noticed to two of its biggest rivals that they can thrive in a high-pressure, tight-checking game.

“This was a good psyche builder and we’re certainly rolling at the right time,” added Barber. “The pressure has been on, and we’ve been able to answer the bell.”