10 minutes into the matchup, Westfield was controlling the pace of play against Governor Livingston in the first round of the county tournament. With their first set piece of the game, the Blue Devils looked to strike first. Senior captain David Savransky took the free kick from a few yards outside the GL box, placing the ball right into the middle. It took a deflection, but senior Ty Flannery was able to get a touch on the ball, squeaking it between the post and the diving GL goalkeeper, putting Westfield in front 1-0 early into the game.
Coming into their opening match of the Union County Tournament, expectations were high for the Blue Devils. “We play in two tournaments, the Union County and the state tournament. It’s my eleventh year here, and we’ve made the semifinals each year,” said head coach Eric Shaw. Westfield came into this matchup looking to be dominant, and that is what they accomplished.
Right out the gate, Westfield dominated the possession battle, with multiple corners and through ball opportunities in the attacking third that did not forge into a tally on the scoreboard. Westfield was rewarded for their efforts with Flannery’s goal, which would result in the only score of the game for either side. Even outside of the offensive pressure, the Blue Devils were outworking GL on every inch of the turf. The defensive work was just as dominant as the offense over the Highlanders, with senior defender Derek Azevedo making an impressive play to win the ball back from a GL attacker after Westfield’s opening goal.
The pressure never wavered for Westfield being granted multiple opportunities on set pieces. However, their shots could not hit the net, and they struggled to test the GL goalkeeper. With under six minutes remaining in the first half, the Highlanders responded with immense pressure towards their offensive end; however, the Blue Devil defense halted the offensive barrage.
Heading into the second half, the Blue Devils did not have the same level of dominance of possession in the first ten minutes as they did for a majority of the first half, but they still remained in the driver’s seat nearly the entire match. “It was a good performance. I don’t think this score really reflected how well we played today. At the end of the day, the scoreboard still read zero, so I’m happy the job got done,” said senior captain Zach Preucil.
With under 11 minutes remaining the match, Preucil and his squad maneuvered the ball around the GL defenders, leaving an opportunity to finish for a second goal on the board. However, one defender made his way back to slow down the offense, giving the GL keeper time to sprawl on top of the ball. Multiple players collided in this close play. The Westfield squad looked to the referees to call for a penalty kick since a GL defender that fell to the ground in the play appeared to make complete contact on the ball with the side of his right arm. But, the Blue Devils came up empty-handed.
Nonetheless, the tired GL squad was in an uphill battle with the Blue Devils that never let up on the pressure. Even with the high tension of only a single goal separating the two teams, Westfield kept holding possession, giving no opportunity to the Highlanders, resulting in a 1-0 scoreboard as the final whistle blew.
The Blue Devils continue their hunt to be the Union County Tournament champions this season as they face off against Elizabeth on Sunday at 4 p.m. at ALJ.
