The No. 16 seed Pascack Valley Boys Soccer Junior Varsity team will face off against No. 2 Ridgewood in the county championship this Saturday, Nov. 1. 

The JV boys have faced an uphill battle this year so far in the county tournament. After beating No. 17 Lodi 4-1 in the first round on Oct. 10, they had to go on the road against No. 1 Bergen Catholic on Oct. 15 in the round of 16. 

The game against Bergen Catholic was tied 2-2 at the end of regulation and headed into penalty kicks. In penalties, Brady Babcock (Jr.) scored the game-winner to upset the top seed and send Valley to the quarterfinals against No. 25 Old Tappan.

When asked about the goal, Babcock said, “Obviously, I was scared, but I had my team with me… [I] had their support and the coaches support, and I just put it away.”

“After [Babcock] scored the game-winning PK against Bergen Catholic, he ran up to me and gave me a big hug,” Coach Ron Villone added. “That was a cool coaching memory that I’ll hold with me forever.”

Then, facing Old Tappan, tied 1-1 at the end of regulation, the team went into penalty kicks again. This time, Angelo Balletto (So.) made a clutch save to clinch Valley’s spot in the semifinals.

In the semifinals, they went up against No. 12 Ramapo, where PV came away with a 2-0 win to advance to the Bergen County Championship game.

With a record of 12-4-3, Villone makes sure everyone has a role in their success. 

“Everybody has a responsibility,” Villone said. “When the moment’s big, everyone needs to rise to the occasion.”

Junior captains Drew Ellner and Brady Babcock both had high regards for Villone.

“Over the last two years, I’ve gotten to know Villone very well, and he’s a great coach, amazing person, and a good hype man,” Ellner said. 

“Villone has been one of the best coaches I’ve ever had,” Babcock stated. “I had him as a coach for basketball freshman year, then for soccer sophomore and junior year. [Villone] is the heart and soul of our team.”

Despite being the underdog, the team somehow found a way to navigate through the tournament. 

“A key to our success has been not giving up,” Ellner said. “Each game, we’ve probably been scored on first, but every time we just come back harder, we keep our heads up, and we pick each other up.”

The saying that is constantly spread around in the PV boys soccer program is “Hold the Rope”. Dating back to Coach Roy Nygren and with Coach Luciano Cofrancesco carrying it on, this saying means a lot to the players and coaches in the program. 

“It started back when I was in high school,” Villone added. “If one guy’s hanging off of a cliff, everybody standing on that cliff is going to be holding him, pulling him up…and everybody’s got to be on that rope holding on.”

“We can’t leave one guy on the ground. We gotta hold the rope, and we hold the rope strong on JV,” Ellner said. 

Babcock added, “It’s not one man’s job — it’s everyone’s job — and if someone goes into the pit you all hold firm.”