With 3-and-a-half minutes left on the clock, and the Blue Devils dominating with a score of 17-3, senior tri-captain Gilli Cohen scored her 5th goal of the day — and the 200th of her career. Behind Cohen’s 5 goals, and notably 4 goals from sophomore Kate Cymbor, who reached 100 career goals early in the game, the Blue Devils stumped Montclair 18-4.
Montclair started the game off quickly, grabbing the first goal and putting the pressure on Westfield. The Blue Devils responded instantly, scoring and going up 2-1. Montclair would respond and score another to make it 2-2, but then wouldn’t score again for another two quarters due to Westfield’s stellar defense.
Behind the notable defensive effort made by the Blue Devils to keep Montclair at a deficit, the offense was able to execute their efforts perfectly; Cohen scored five goals; Cymbor and sophomore Lorelai McGorty scored four; junior Skylar Abo scored three; senior Madeleine Smith and sophomore Eloise Murphy both scored one goal.
“We did really well moving on after mistakes,” head coach Katie Dasilva. “We worked on missed shots, and resetting after that. Still, there is always room for improvement all around, especially slowing the game down.”
Historically, when it came to a state quarterfinal matchup between Westfield and Montclair, Montclair came out on top in both the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons. “Montclair ended our season my freshman and my sophomore year, so we knew not to underestimate them,” Cohen said. “Even though the score didn’t reflect it, it definitely was a tough game, and they were definitely a good team.”
To both Cohen and Cymbor, their milestones could not have been done without the support of their teammates. Specifically, Cymbor said, “It’s just a great feeling being surrounded by my teammates and them getting me those goals. That does not come without the help of them, so that’s what’s most important to me today.”
Additionally, Cohen agreed. She explained how her teammates were extremely supportive, especially as the running clock cut down her time to reach her milestone. “It was definitely tough at the end there. I was missing all my shots, but they just kept supporting me and let me keep shooting, so I’m really happy that I got it.”
The Blue Devils will continue their state run on Thursday, where they will face No. 3 seed Ridgewood at 4:30 p.m. at Kehler. Earlier in their season, the Blue Devils upset the Maroons in overtime, 10-9. “We’ve already played Ridgewood,” DaSilva explained, “so we have a pretty good game plan in place. We just need to build upon today.”
