Westfield vs. Scotch Plains-Fanwood: one of the biggest rivalries in New Jersey high school sports. These are games filled with the most intense fans and competitive teams. Usually. Monday’s game, however, was far from the usual matchup that the Union County Conference sees. With Westfield being the No. 1 seed and SPF the No. 17 seed, this was the least competitive matchup between these teams so far this year in all sports.
Unexpectedly, the Blue Devils started off the first period slowly. “[The] first period was a bit sloppy but we got progressively better through every period,” said senior captain Michael Wilson. Westfield started their action when junior Danny McDevitt connected with fellow junior Aidan Wilson who put up a goal during a chaotic scramble with just under 8 minutes left in the first period. Catching up to their usual play towards the end of the period, the Blue Devils put up two more goals. In a scramble, senior captain Michael Marshall was able to get the puck over the goal line, and sophomore Andrew Lisnock scored with a wrist shot off a clean pass from senior Kolby Azzaretto. Their expectation of an easy game was broken with just under 2 minutes left in the period. Despite senior goalie Andrew Raber’s impressive saving capabilities, SPF was able to grab the puck off a rebound and shoot it past Raber.
With Westfield only up by two, they did not have the lead that was expected going into the second period. The Blue Devils were able to turn this around quickly as the Wilson brothers maneuvered the puck around the Raider’s defense. In a pass from Aidan Wilson near the glass, Michael Wilson took a shot from the blue line that happened to slide in right past the SPF goalie. The intensity from this period easily outdid the first period, as both teams had players with penalties and were unable to score for the majority of the remainder of the period. Though it seemed that the score would remain 4-1 going into the third period, Jackson Chicola was able to score off a wrist shot from a passing sequence with senior captain Alex Ebel and sophomore Nick Benson. “We ran through some faceoff plays to maybe spring a breakaway,” said Chicola. Westfield’s efficiency coming out of their faceoffs allowed for quick transitions into their scoring.
The intensity remained high as the Blue Devil-Raider matchup continued into the third period. In another passing sequence, this time from SPF, the Raiders were able to score, tightening up the score to a 5-2 lead for Westfield. Though it seemed as though SPF could make a comeback, just one minute later, Chicola scored his second goal of the game, the goal that effectively secured Westfield’s win. The raiders weren’t able to catch up for the remaining 8 minutes of the game, leading to two additional Westfield goals. As a result of passes from Ebel and sophomore Tyler Bergman, Kolby Azzaretto scored in a close shot past the goalie. 3 minutes later, junior Aiden Alon and senior Beckett Calder passed around before feeding the puck to junior Brody Esler, who easily slung the puck in for Westfield’s 8th goal of the match. With only 2:18 left in the third period with a deficit of 6 points, there was a slim chance for SPF to mount a comeback.
“It’s the first game. I think we need to clean some things up. It’s nice to win the first round, but we have to expect better if we want to clean some things up and we gotta be better for the second,” said head coach Joe Bertucci following the game. Westfield had grabbed the first round from SPF, whose record was only 5-16 prior to the match, but opponents to come will not allow the Blue Devils to have the first period to settle in as they had to this time. Bertucci added that they “have to play more systematically. We can’t play as individuals out there.”
The Blue Devils are set to play Bridgewater-Raritan at 6:35 at Warinanco on Feb. 21 for the NJSIAA sectional quarterfinals.
