The West Orange Mountaineers took down the Blue Devils in a bloody battle that took place at Gary Kehler Stadium yesterday. The Blue Devils suffered an early hit that they were unable to recover from. The Mountaineers came out energized from the first whistle despite Westfield having the home field advantage and a large crowd in the stands.
The Blue Devils had their biggest control of the first half within the first seconds of the game. With gusto, the ball was sent down the left sideline finding junior Zach Precuil, who was able to cross it to junior Ben Nematadzira. However, Nematadzira’s big touch was hit towards the West Orange keeper who picked it up with ease.
The momentum quickly changed. Just under two minutes in, the Mountaineers charged towards the net with their first attack and were able to capitalize. After the ball was poorly cleared by the Westfield defense, the Mountaineers were able to send the ball back into the box where one of their attackers flicked a header to another one of their forwards who was able to loft the ball into the goal.
Less than seven minutes later, the Mountaineers struck again off of one of the many corner kicks awarded to them in the first half. As the ball floated across the box, the West Orange attacker headed it into the right side of the goal as the Westfield players froze in shock.
The two early goals gave the West Orange fans the confidence to chirp the referees and the Westfield players. Their two goal buffer was not enough comfort to make them relax and enjoy the remainder of the game in this state semifinal game.
The Mountaineers did not stay quiet for long as they put another shot on goal that found the back of the net. A West Orange attacker found the ball inside the box, with no defender nearby, and put a low shot on goal that slid past senior goalkeeper Michael Liebermann with 24 minutes left in the half.
Going into the second half three goals down, head coach Eric Shaw said, “We have our back against the wall, we are three nil down, so we really have nothing to lose.” In order to fire his team up he told the seniors that this is their “last forty minutes.”
This sparked a fire inside the Westfield attack as they entered the second half, but overall it would not be enough to put the Blue Devils on top. Nematadzira has been the hero throughout the state tournament and today was no different. Just over two minutes into the half, Nematadzira dribbled through several West Orange defenders and side kicked the ball past the keeper.
Westfield took this momentum to build their offense and created several dangerous scoring opportunities, but the West Orange keeper had no plans of letting Westfield score again. Junior David Savranksy crossed the ball off of a corner, finding Nematadzira for a powerful header that went just over the goal. The West Orange keeper finished the day with eleven saves, one being a fantastic diving tip over the crossbar off of a free kick from Savransky.
The Blue Devils tried time and time again to edge their way back into the game as they controlled possession in the second half, but fell short.
“Every match you have that expectation that you can compete and win. I think we gave up two or three bad moments early on…we weren’t sharp enough,” Shaw said.
This heartbreaking match ended the Blue Devils’ season and finalized their 18-2-1 record. This also marked a historic season for the boys as this was the farthest they have gone in the state tournament in years.
