Going into the fifth round of penalty kicks, Westfield was leading 4-3. When the Scotch-Plains Fanwood player shot the ball, it was do-or-die; if he made it, the pressure would shift back to Westfield, but if he missed it, his season would end. Westfield junior goalkeeper Dominik Kotowicz waited for the shot and read it perfectly, falling on top of the ball. No goal. Westfield survives penalty kicks and secures a semifinal victory to advance to the state finals.
Just like a few weeks ago when the Blue Devils and Raiders met, 100 minutes was not enough time to determine a winner, and penalty kicks were needed. Except that time, after 13 rounds, the roles were reversed: Scotch-Plains Fanwood won and moved on to the county semifinals.
Head coach Eric Shaw said, “We proved twice against Scotch-Plains Fanwood that we can compete with them. In the county tournament, unfortunately, we didn’t get it done in PKs. The way we played tonight, I think we deserved to win.”
For most of the regulation, the game was at a stalemate. Westfield and Scotch-Plains Fanwood traded blows with one another. That remained the case until 4:55 left in the second half, when senior Nathan Young shot from just outside of the penalty box, floated out of reach of the goalkeeper and found the back of the net, giving the Blue Devils a 1-0 lead.
The lead was short-lived, however. Just a minute later, the Raiders had their own goal, tying the game at one goal each.
Senior co-captain Reean Dias said, “We never gave up after going up a goal and then giving one right back is not an easy thing to overcome, they had a lot of momentum but we never stopped believing in ourselves and that we were going to win the game.”
With the game tied at one, the intensity rose as both teams knew that one mistake could end their season quickly. Westfield and SPF fought for possession, trying to create opportunities to score and find a game-winning goal. After two long overtime rounds, the score stayed tied, leading to the penalty kicks for the second time this season.
This time, the Blue Devils were determined to come out on top. Westfield scored each penalty kick, pressuring the Raiders to match their success. SPF trailing behind led to a win for the Blue Devils, which the team has been awaiting.
“We are going to celebrate this win tonight, which means a lot to us, but we have to get right back to work at practice tomorrow and Friday and then get right back to the game on Saturday, which we will give it our all and even more than what we have today,” said Dias.
Westfield’s victory punched their ticket to the Group IV North 2 Sectional Championship game, where they will face off against Watchung Hills who is coming off of a 2-1 win over the number one seed Elizabeth.
