February 5, 2010
Second and 10…….
After winning their last 4 in a row the Ramsey Rams came back home to The Vault to try and extend their win streak against the Norsemen of Northern Valley-Demarest. The combination of the Rams stingy defense, and the re-vitalized offense was just too much for the Norsemen, and Ramsey picked up its 5th straight win.
The opening frame the Rams exploded right out of the gate, Junior Ryan DiTomaso once again took the opening face off down into the zone on a breakaway, that was denied by the Demarest netminder. But, it wasn’t long after that that the Rams started their barrage. At :37 Junior Jake Fassler deflected a Scotty Rothlisberger slapper (Ryan DiTomaso) five hole and got the Rams on the board early. Almost 3 minutes later at 3:28 senior Johnny Kirk lit the lamp assisted by senior captain Mike Gwon, and Senior Patrick Rutkowski. The aforementioned Rutkowski added a tally of his own at 6:11 assisted by Mike Gwon, and Johnny Kirk. :47 seconds later at 6:58 junior Kyle Mast tickled the twine, assisted by fellow junior Ray Beiner, and sophomore Brandon Hasslinger. As if this wasn’t enough… At 8:06 Jake Fassler got his second deflection goal, assisted by Mike Gwon and senior Frankie Libretti. The frame ended with P-Rut picking up his second goal of the evening at 9:19 on a Peyton Manning like touchdown pass play, assisted by Mike Gwon, and Matty Braun… this was Matty’s first assist/point of the season. The frame ended with Ramsey up 6 – 0 and out shooting Demarest 22 – 0 .
Second verse… same as the first…… But, hold on there Babalooey… Ramsey switched goalies, and freshman Justin Larkin made his Varsity debut. The Rams defense continued to keep the Norsemen out of the zone, and wasted no time in their assault. At 1:47 Frankie Libretti found the back of the net assisted by Jake Fassler. :29 seconds later senior Ricky Gnassi put another point on the board, assisted By senior Scotty Rothlisberger, and senior Tyler Bishop. Ramsey continually controlled the puck and inevitably the game. At 10:21 Johnny Kirk picked up his second of the night, assisted by P-Rut, and Ricky Gnassi. Kirk would pick up the hat trick at 14:07 assisted by P-Rut and Scotty Rothlisberger. The second period also saw Coach Toy utilizing his bench, with outstanding performances by Connor O’Callahan, Richie Butryn, Andrew Danz, and Nick Bressi. The contest would end at 10 – 0 after 2 periods. Shots on goal were 44 – 2 in favor of the good guys. Matty Braun facing 0 shots on goal, Justin Larkin facing 2, both netminders sharing the shutout. Next up for our heros…. Another trip down to the Beautiful City of Hackensack, where the Rams will face the Paramus Catholic Paladins for a second time on Friday February 12. Be there… Aloha!!
February 2, 2010
JV Rams Win Two, Drop One
There’s an old saying that “two out of three ain’t bad.” Considering that wins have been few and far between for the JV Rams this season, two of out three has to be considered an successful weekend.
The junior Rams knocked off DePaul Catholic Saturday night 5 – 1, then upset a tough St. Joe’s squad 5 – 3 on Sunday, before getting whitewashed by Ridgewood Monday 6 – 0.
“Yeah, I’ll take two wins out of the three games we played,” said Coach Mike Walker. “We expected to win against DePaul, and we shocked St. Joe’s. That was one of our best games of the season.”
Against DePaul, the Ram’s came out skating hard, taking control of the game from the opening face-off. The Ramsey defense, lead by Richie Butryn and Mike Dwyer, held the DePaul in check for the entire game while limiting the number of shots on goaltender Jay Dolas.
Junior Chase Crawford scored on the power play after taking a pass from linemates Tyler Buysse and Anthony Mazzella. Later, freshman Ryan D’Amato (Buysse) continued to find the back of the net for the Rams like he has been doing all season.
Varsity skater Vincent Pedulla, playing down for the game, notched a pretty goal and sophomore Ian McKeown also tallied for the Rams.
For the game Jay Dolas had an easy game between the Ramsey pipes. The Ram defense was rock solid and kept the puck away from their goaltender, keeping most of the shots from outside the slot area.
Going into the St. Joe’s game, the Rams knew they were playing a very good team. However, the Ram’s were not intimidated and came away with the upset win.
“I don’t know if I’d call it an ‘upset’ or not,” Walker said. “They are a good team, and we are a good team. When two good teams play each other, anything can happen.”
St. Joe’s actually controlled the puck most of the game, but the difference was Ram goaltender Justin Larkin, who was on fire between the pipes.
Freshman Tom Shimchak (Drew Danz) lit the lap for the Rams and Butryn scored on a slapshot from the point that found its way through a maze of players.
Sophomore goal getter Nick Bressi (Danz) scored his first of two goals, later adding an empty netter to seal the victory for the Rams in the last minute of play.
Pedulla snuck in behind the St. Joe’s defense for a breakaway and fooled the goalie to score the Ram’s fourth goal of the game.
“I have to give St. Joe’s credit,” Walker continued. “They’re a good team, but we never backed down and we never quit. We earned this win tonight, there’s no doubt about it.”
Maybe it was because the Rams were playing their third game in three nights, but the JV Rams came out flat against Ridgewood and couldn’t generate any offense. Along the way the Rams got shutout by the Maroon’s 6 – 0.
“We were hoping for three wins in a row, but it wasn’t meant to be,” Walker added. “I don’t know if we were tired or not, but we certainly didn’t play with the same intensity as we did against St. Joe’s.”
The Ram’s had their chances during the game as sophomore Russ Caputi missed a top corner and defenseman Joe D’Amato had a couple of nice shots from the point.
The difference was the way Ridgewood moved the puck during the game. They kept circling, looking for the open man, heavily outshooting Ramsey. The Maroons had countless shots from the slot area and kept Larkin moving from side to side, stopping the puck.
The JV Rams look to get back on the winning track Friday night when they play Wayne Hills at the Ice Vault. The puck drops at 9:00 PM.
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