After a long first half, junior Becket Lick attacks a ball served into the box and finds the back of the net to score and lead the Blue Devils to a 3-0 victory over the New Providence Pioneers.
Westfield and New Providence battled through a scoreless first half, with both teams struggling to find the back of the net. “We’ve been struggling with scoring goals and once you put one in against a team like this, that is struggling because they’ve lost some games, we can get two or three,” head coach Eric Shaw said. “We just couldn’t finish in the first half, and we had to help give them the mindset to get the first goal.”
The Blue Devils entered halftime tied 0-0 after a physical opening 40 minutes that included a yellow card for New Providence.
Westfield came out of the second half with the same energy. Senior and co-captain Cooper Janota said that the team came into the second half motivated to score after tying Cranford in a double overtime game and a similar situation last week with Scotch-Plains Fanwood.
With 37:42 remaining, Lick broke their scoreless streak putting the Blue Devils ahead 1-0, giving Westfield the breakthrough they needed.
Just over six minutes later, Janota finds the back of the net, doubling Westfield’s lead. Westfield continued to pressure New Providence, and senior Dylan Pardes added another goal with 29:10 left to play, extending the lead to 3-0.
Pardes said, “The team showed its resilience today. No matter what, we’re going to keep fighting, and keep shooting. We knew coming off of our last game that we had to score, and eventually those goals came.”
New Providence picked up another yellow card as Westfield maintained control of the game. Despite a late yellow card for the Blue Devils, Westfield’s defense held strong, with junior goalie Dominik Kotowicz keeping a clean sheet and helping Westfield close out the game with a 3-0 victory.
“The team needs to carry our energy from the sideline from the players on the field, and our finishing ability needs to be better,” said Janota.
The Blue Devils are looking to bring the same energy when they face Princeton at home on Saturday at 11 a.m.
