As the clock wound down, the first quarter was coming to a close and the scoreboard read 3-1. As Caldwell’s offense aggressively attacked Westfield’s defense, quad-captain goalie Corey Gilford blocked the shot with his body, stopping Caldwell in their tracks. Head coach William Wertheimer said, “That was probably the biggest highlight. You don’t want to go in at the end of the quarter with someone scoring, and they took a shot and Corey made a big save. We needed that save from Corey and he gave us that.”
The Blue Devils did not back down as their offense fired shots left and right, ending with a 14-3 win. Senior Luke Angelo was a massive contributor, scoring three goals and an assist. Angelo said, “I think we just moved the ball well and shot well. We just found the open man and finished our looks.”
Adding to the offense, quad captain Colin Coyle and senior Garret Ferguson worked together to find the back of the net. This duo has been a consistent help throughout the Blue Devils’ season and continues to bring the energy. Ferguson had five goals and Coyle had one goal and two assists. Wertheimer said, “They [Caldwell] had a really talented athlete at number five, and we stuck Ben Seward on him and he did a great job.”
Senior Gavin Laconti said, “I think the offense in general did very well not looking for the first look, but making the one that is for the better.
We did really well clearing and riding the whole game and our face-off guys figured it out quickly.” Laconti had a great game as he won multiple possessions for the Blue Devils by taking the ball away from Caldwell’s defenders and getting the ball up the field.
Laconti’s highlight of the game was when he “did a swim dodge.” He said, “I took the shot, but it missed, and I dove with the kid and got the end line chase.” Hustle plays such as these helped bring tons of momentum and energy to the team which was carried on throughout the entire game.
Defensively, the Blue Devils locked down Caldwell and left few opportunities to shoot. Junior defensemen Ben Seward said, “I think we had great communication on defense. There were a lot of better slides, and better on ball defense.”
Moving forward, the Blue Devils will play rivals Pingry on May 3, home at Gary Kehler Stadium. Angelo explained that the team needs to just “keep the energy moving forward” and “not overestimate or underestimate any opponent.”
