Skip To Main Content

https://bergencatholicfootball.com

Coach Berkamish
@ John Hund '79

Crusaders Pursue Fourth County Title

Coach Berkanish's Crusaders Making History

10/30/2025 5:54:00 PM

HERE COME THE CRUSADERS!
GAME DAY:  NOVEMBER 1, 2025 - 7:00 PM - OAKLAND, NJ - Indian Hills Regional HS is the host of the 2025 Jerry Lewis Memorial County Tournament Final sponsored by the Bergen County Coaches Association BC has reached this round 6 times and won three!  Coach Pete Berkanish is the first coach to lead his BC team into the finals twice.  Crusaders are focused and ready to attack to return to the final for the first time since they won the title in 2019. 

BC PREVIEW 
The top-seeded Crusaders enter with a 15-3-2 record and have a six-game win streak entering today's game.  They are coached by Mr. Peter Berkanish who boasts a 149-40-16 overall record (.766 winning percentage) since taking the reins in 2015.  He is one of three Crusade alumni coaches to win titles and is going for his second.
     Six Crusaders have scored double-digit points this year with #8 James Melia and #21 Dangelo Tavarez (10G, 5A, 25P) share the honor of leading the pack.  #6 Frank Burns (6G, 6A, 18P),  #31 Liam Agans (5G, 4A, 14 P) and #17 John Semelsberger with (5G, 3A, 13 P) and #20 Tyler Oehm with (4G, 3A and 11P) pace a hot team
     Junior goalkeeper #0 John Coleman is having a strong season with 42 saves on the season and senior #0 Ian Chung has turned away 18 shots for BC.
RAMAPO PREVIEW
The second-seeded Green Raiders are 14-1 on the season and riding an 11-game winning streak.  Their only loss of the season came at the hands of the Crusaders, 4-3 in the middle of September.  Coach Evan Baumgarten is in search of his 16th County title since his first in 1986.  His Raiders have won the last 4 championships and are in search of #5. 
     Forward #9 Caden O'Connell leads Ramapo with 13 goals, 11 assists, 37 points.  Junior #22 Jacob Preziosi is the team's second leading scorer with 7 goals, 14 assists 28 points.  Midfielder #19 Jordan Hunt has 8 goals, 5 assists (21 points) and midfielder #7 Julian Cuttita has 20 points on 9 goals and a pair of assists.
     Goalkeeper #0 Julian Lora has saved 43 goals against.  #1 Dylan Kleinschmidt, sophomore, has recorded 22 saves.

BERGEN CATHOLIC SOCCER HISTORY IN THE COUNTY FINAL
YEAR OPPONENT VENUE WL BC OPP COACH
1985 Ramapo BCC W 1 0 Hugh Beattie
1999 Don Bosco Prep Ramapo Coll W 2 1 Jim McGirr
2001 Don Bosco Prep Indian Hills L 1 3 Chris Tully
2009 Don Bosco Prep River Dell L 0 3 Mark Edge
2012 Ramapo Ramapo HS L 1 3 Rui DosSantos
2019 Ridgewood Indian Hills W 2 1 Pete Berkanish
DID YOU KNOW?        Six different coaches have led the Crusaders to the County Finals.  All three BCCA championship teams were coached by BC alumni.  Coach Berkanish is the first BC coach who will be coaching for the second time in the finals.
 
BERGEN CATHOLIC VS RAMAPO
IN THE COUNTY TOURNAMENT
The Crusaders are 6-4 vs. Ramapo in the County Tournament and 1-1 in the finals against the Green Raiders.  Actually, the first ten times the two schools met were in the counties before the last two meeting in which they split a win and a loss.
      BC won its first county title in school history in 1985 against Ramapo.  The Crusaders, coached by Hugh Beattie, had a slew of stars including BC Hall of famers Chris Unger, Greg Schwake, Mike Ferrence, Gerard Maron, Kevin O'Hara and Greg Tramontozzi.
DATE HAN GAME WLT BC 'PO OT
10/28/1984 A BCCA Quarter W 4 3 2
11/10/1985 N BCCA Final W 1 0
11/1/1998 N BCCA Semifinal L 0 3
10/31/1999 N BCCA Semifinal W 3 1
10/28/2001 A BCCA Semifinal W 2 1
10/31/2004 A BCCA Semifinal L 1 2
10/25/2009 H BCCA Quarter W 4 1
10/27/2012 A BCCA Final L 1 3
10/13/2019 H BCCA Quarter W 2 0
10/15/2022 N BCCA Semifinal L 1 2
9/19/2024 A Regular Season L 0 3
9/15/25 H Regular Season W 4 3
11/1/25 N Indian Hills
 
BC - 'PO BY THE NUMBERS 2025
STATISTIC CRUSADERS RAIDERS
W/L/T 15-3-1 14-1
WIN % .816 .933
STREAK W 6 W 11
GF 69 54
GFPG 3.6 3.6
GA 19 7
GAPG 1.0 0.5
Head to Head – BC 4-R 3 on September 15, 2025 @ BCHS
In twelve meetings between the two schools, BC holds a slight 7-5 advantage.  Today's match will be the third time the teams meet in the County Finals  and the first time the two will meet twice in one season.
 
BERGEN COUNTY COACHES ASSOCIATION
JERRY LEWIS MEMORIAL TOURNAMENT
CHAMPIONSHIP GAMES 1972-Present
(Cas Muehlek Trophy Winners)
YEAR SCHOOL COACH RUNNER UP SCORE
1972 Hackensack Jerry Lewis Teaneck  2-0
1973 Ridgewood Dick Bennett Tenafly  2-0
1974 Ridgewood Dick Bennett Hackensack  3-1
1975 Ridgewood Dick Bennett NV Demarest  1-0
1976 Hackensack Gus Migliore NV Demarest  5-4
1977 NV Demarest Charley Luethke Hackensack  2-0
1978 Ridgewood Dick Bennett Ramapo  3-0 (replay)
1979 Ramapo Chuck Swenson Tenafly  1-0
1980 Ridgewood Dick Bennett Ramsey  2-0 (replay)
1981 Ramapo Chuck Swenson Hackensack  1-0
1982 Don Bosco Prep Rich Zawacki Englewood  3-0
1983 Don Bosco Prep Rich Zawacki No Highlands  2-0
1984 Indian Hills Arvi Saar Don Bosco Prep  2-0
1985 Bergen Catholic Hugh Beattie Ramapo  1-0
1986 Ramapo Evan Baumgarten No Highlands  1-0
1987 Don Bosco Prep Rich Zawacki Glen Rock  2-0
1988 Don Bosco Prep Rich Zawacki Midland Park  2-1
1989 Hackensack Gus Migliore Lyndhurst  1-0
1990 Ridgewood Dick Bennett Ramsey  3-0 (replay)
1991 Dwight-Englewood Chris Schmid Tenafly  3-1 (replay)
1992 Tenafly Bill Jaeger Don Bosco Prep  4-3
1993 Ridgewood Dick Bennett Waldwick  2-1
1994 Pascack Valley Andy Schmidt Tenafly  2-1
1995 Waldwick George Farago Ridgewood  2-1
1996 Hackensack Bernie Petrocelli Don Bosco Prep  1-0
1997 Don Bosco Prep Roy Nygren No Highlands  2-1
1998 Don Bosco Prep Roy Nygren Ramapo  4-1
1999 Bergen Catholic Jim McGirr Don Bosco Prep  2-1
2000 Ramapo Evan Baumgarten Don Bosco Prep  1-0
2001 Don Bosco Prep Roy Nygren Bergen Catholic  3-1
2002 Don Bosco Prep Roy Nygren Ridgewood  1-0
2003 Ramapo Evan Baumgarten Don Bosco Prep  1-0
2004 Don Bosco Prep Roy Nygren Ramapo  1-0
2005 Ramapo Evan Baumgarten Tenafly  2-1
2006 Ramapo & Paramus
Co-Champions
Evan Baumgarten(R) Michael Ben-David (P)  0-0
2007 Don Bosco Prep Roy Nygren Cliffside Park  3-1
2008 Ramapo Evan Baumgarten Don Bosco Prep  2-0
2009 Don Bosco Prep Mark Maka Bergen Catholic  3-0
2010 Northern Highlands Sean Devore Ramapo  2-1
2011 NV-Old Tappan Mike Hanchar Ramapo  3-2
2012 Ramapo Evan Baumgarten Bergen Catholic  3-1
2013 Cliffside Park Jim Fucci Don Bosco Prep  1-0
2014 Ramapo Evan Baumgarten No Highlands  2-1
2015 Ramapo Evan Baumgarten Tenafly  3-0
2016 Ramapo Evan Baumgarten Pascack Valley  2-1
2017 Ramapo Evan Baumgarten NV-Old Tappan  2-1
2018 Glen Rock Casey Schick Ramsey  3-0
2019 Bergen Catholic Pete Berkanish Ridgewood  2-1
2020 COVID-19 NO TOURNAMENT
2021 Ramapo Evan Baumgarten Ramsey  1-0
2022 Ramapo Evan Baumgarten Ridgewood  5-0
2023 Ramapo & Ramsey Co-Champions Evan Baumgarten(RP) Cesar Blacido (RS)  1-1
2024 Ramapo Evan Baumbarten Ramapo  1-0

#1 BERGEN CATHOLIC CRUSADERS (15-3-1)
2025 VARSITY SOCCER ROSTER
HEAD COACH:  Mr. Pete Berkanish
NO NAME GR NO NAME GR
0 Ian Chung SR 11 Frank Burns JR
1 John Coleman JR 12 Michael Fenton SOPH
2 Carl Ombajin JR 13 D'Angelo Tavarez SR
3 Andrew Coyne SR 14 William Tramontozzi SOPH
4 Owen McAuley SR 15 Christian Doolan SOPH
5 Saif Khan SR 17 John Semelsberger JR
6 John Flynn SR 18 Quinn Caulfield SR
7 Josh Barlisan JR 19 Jonah Shin SOPH
7 Liam Agans SOPH 20 Tyler Oehm SOPH
8 James Melia SR 21 Jonah Kim SR
9 Kieran Ewers SR 24 Michael Loughlin SR
10 Arcen Tambi JR 27 Jack Stephenson JR       
                                           31  Liam Agans             JR
 
#2 RAMAPO GREEN RAIDERS (14-1)
2025 VARSITY SOCCER ROSTER
HEAD COACH:  Mr. Evan Baumgarten
NO NAME GR NO NAME GR
0 Julian Lora SR 15 Dylan Dungo SR
1 Dylan Kleinschmidt SO 16 Anthony Bono JR
2 Jayden Heinsohn SR 17 Jackson Rijo SR
3 Brody Benner SR 18 Will Pennachio SR
4 Connor DeMarco JR 19 Jordan Hunt SR
5 Luke D'Altilio JR 20 Alex Johnson SR
6 Evan Didato SR 21 George Zahka SR
7 Julian Cuttita SR 22 Jacob Preziosi JR
8 Declan Tosney SR 23 Aidan McHale JR
9 Caden O'Connell SR 25 Eli Martinez JR
10 James Fitzmaurice SR 27 Aidan Szoke
11 Nick Didato SR 28 Justin Madigan JR
12 Ryan Kramer JR 29 Owen O'Connell FR
13 Zach Zarzar SR
 
 
 
Print Friendly Version