Football Wins Big, Volleyball Picks Up Where Last Season Ended

The first week of the 2012 fall campaigns for the and are in the record books and both football teams and the girls volleyball squad have each picked up where they left off at the end of 2011.

Football

John Germano and the Crusaders the St. Anthony Friars 59-21 as Germano threw for 300 yards, four touchdowns and ran one in. Bergen Catholic made a statement for all to see that this is their year to succeed as John Feaster, JJ Kulcsar, Danny Grasso and AJ Gallagher all hauled in big plays.

After falling to West Essex in the N1G2 finals in 2011, it would have been easy for River Dell to focus on revenge against the Knights in their season opener. Instead the Hawks focused their efforts on proving they are the better team after trailing in the first quarter, Tim Barnes connected with Christian Desanctis to put the Hawks on the board and then continued to set up Ryan Duran for two TD’s and then ran in two himself for a 31-7 victory.

Soccer

If the Lady Hawks had any demons to exercise from their 2011 campaign, they began so by posting a 1-0 shutout over arch rival Ramsey as Frankie Maier booted the lone goal in the first half. A few days later, Maier and Kayla McGovern led the Lady Hawks to a 1-1 tie against Mahwah with two scoreless overtime periods. Coming off their rough and tumble match against the Lady T-Birds, River Dell had a quick turn around and knocked Westwood down 5-1 with Brigid Tracy netting two, Jamie Woods, Maier and Noreen Bryne adding the rest.

Boys Soccer got off to a slow start this season going through two sets of overtime and tying the highly regarded Ramsey Rams 0-0 and then falling 1-0 to Mahwah. The Golden Hawks picked up their first win of the season behind Nick Shanman’s two goals as RD was able to fend off the Westwood Cardinals 3-2. Justin Fernandez netted the third goal.

The Crusaders had a similiar start as the Golden Hawks, also struggling to earn a win until its third game of the season. Senior Travis Nitti has been a force for Bergen having netted four goals in three games as the Crusaders fell to De Paul 3-2 in overtime, shutout by Westfield 3-0 and then to victory 5-3 over St. Joseph Regional. Erick Alonso, Cameron Zamanian and Thomas Hogue each have one tally to their name. Justin Holowach has made 13 saves to date.

Volleyball

Volleyball has no intentions of sitting on their laurels after winning a Group 2 title in 2011. Led by Mary Maccabee and Kalette DeMarrais, the squad is currently undefeated after beating Ramsey (25-13, 25-5), Mahwah (25-18, 23-25, 25-18), Westwood (25-10, 25-13) and making a deep run in the Jersey Classic before falling to eventual champion IHA in the single set semifinals 20-25. Maccabee has recorded 56 kills, DeMarrais 64 assists and libero Sarah Recanati 10 digs.

Field Hockey

River Dell is off to one of its best starts, boasting a 3-1 record at the end of the week. The Lady Hawks rolled to a 2-0 season opener over Dwight Englewood, then a 2-1 victory over Passaic Valley and lastly a 2-1 decision against Old Tappan. Senior captain Cathy Antoneli had two goals, Rebecca Weimer and Meghan Ennis had one apeice and Marina Reilly was clutch with two goals. The lone blip to the team's record so far is a 4-0 upset by Passaic County powerhouse Wayne Hills, which could have been much worse had goalie Emily Rizzo not finished with 14 saves in the cage.

Tennis

On the courts, the Lady Hawks are struggling dropping a 5-0 decision to Ramsey and then 4-1 to Mahwah with doubles team Sara Miranov/Rachel Schupak avoiding the shutout. The squad earned a 5-0 win over Westwood to end the week on a high note.

Cross Country

After the River Dell Co-Ed Cross Country teams dropped their opening race against Ramsey, the boys were able to overcome the Westwood Cardinals 29-29 at Garret Mountain. Stefan Schuster, William Daly and Timothy Olsen in the 1-3-4 spots to lead the Hawks 26 to 29 over Westwood at Garrett Mountain. Schuster clocked in at 17:52; Daly at 18:56 and Olsen in 19:05. The Girls team was not as luck even though Marisa Wozniak and Melissa Gibbons split the 2-5 positions against the Cardinals who prevailed 23 to 34 over RD. Wozniak finished in 23:03 with Gibbons coming in at 24:23.

The BC cross country team lost their opening Big North United Division meet of the fall, coming up just short of the top ranked Don Bosco Prep Ironmen by a final score of (23-34). The Crusaders were led by senior captain Mike Whalen's 2nd place finish, Matt Morano's 4th place time, Tom Selvaggi's 7th place finish, Mike Sondej's 9th place finish, and Joey Ludwig's 12th overall finish.

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