After an explosive first two periods from the Blue Devils, who dominated with six unanswered goals, the team was primed to keep its momentum rolling into the third. With just under 11 minutes left remaining on the clock, senior captain Andrew Lisnock scored a goal that reignited their offensive surge. Exactly 10 seconds later, junior Chris Smok seized the moment, effortlessly shooting the puck into the net to complete his hat trick, driving the score to a staggering 8-0.
Head coach Joe Bertucci remarked on the team’s playing abilities, saying, “Sometimes, you play teams that, statistically, aren’t as good as you and you just happen to score goals [but] I thought we moved the puck really well. Everybody was contributing and working hard out there.” Behind Smok’s three goals, the Blue Devils had a variety of goal scorers for the night. Senior Luke O’Brien scored early in the first period, followed by senior captain Nick Benson, junior Liam Reed and senior Blake Wotanowski in the second. To add to the great margin, senior captain Andrew Lisnock contributed a goal in the third period.
During the 2024-25 season, the Blue Devils faced the Knights in three appearances, winning each time and only conceding two goals in the three games combined. The team knew what they were capable of and executed another successful game. “Our mindset was to have a killer mentality and play three really strong periods,” Benson said. “Last game, we beat these guys really heavily, so we knew they would come out flying.”
However, Westfield came out stronger as soon as the first puck dropped. The defense was able to stay grounded throughout, consistently keeping the puck out of the Blue Devils’ zone. Benson added, “We worked on breaking the puck out and not keeping it on our sticks for too long in practice. We didn’t want to force any turnovers, so we made good plays, got into the forwards and they brought it up.”
The offense clearly capitalized on the defensive strategy. While Smok contributed to the victory with a hat trick, it was not his main focus heading into the game. He said, “We focused on getting other players to talk and just trying to win this game.” This game allowed the team to let some of the younger players showcase their talent and build experience at the varsity level.
With each possession, the Blue Devils found a way to create a play and have a shot at the goal. While the Knights pressed a little harder in the third period, they were not able to find a gap and capitalize on any possessions. Senior goalie Troy Conover recorded 18 saves, in comparison to 47 saves from West Essex’s goalie.
Westfield improves their record to 8-1 and will return to Warinanco Park for their next game against Governor Livingston at 8:35 p.m. on Jan. 14. Already beating the Highlanders 5-2 in their third game of the season, the Blue Devils look to take home another win.
