With under two minutes left on the clock, sophomore Andrew Lisnock exited the penalty box enraged. After several controversial calls made by the referees, tensions were higher than ever between Westfield and Cranford. Right when he hit the ice Lisnock received a pass from senior Kolby Azzaretto, sneaking the puck past the Cranford goalie and securing a 3 point lead for the Blue Devils. The Westfield bench went into uproar, banging their sticks against the glass in a moment of pure adrenaline.
The Blue Devils went on to beat Cranford 4-1. Junior Aidan Wilson scored the game’s first goal within three minutes of the first period starting. To follow, sophomore Tyler Bergman scored two crucial back to back goals early on in the second period.
Bergman said, “We knew we were gonna be the better team skill wise, but we knew it was gonna be a tough game.”
“Tough” was an understatement; this game proved itself to be one of the most aggressive and physical games of the season, with multiple penalties given to each team. At least four Blue Devils were sent to the penalty box throughout the game, stirring frustration in the Westfield stands.
The rink became a scene of utter chaos. Well into the second period, Wilson had forcefully hit #91 on Cranford into the glass, leading to a stoppage in time and the players exit from the game. Additionally, senior assistant captain Michael Marshall played with a similar level of physicality, receiving two full minutes in the penalty box for stiff arming another Cranford player to the ground.
Still, Cranford did not back down. Instead, they came back twice as hard. In the middle of the second period, senior captain Michael Wilson Wilson was flipped onto his back hitting the hard ice. No whistle was blown, nor penalty called against the Cranford player. Shortly after, Wilson was on the ice, this time because of a trip. Cranford, yet again, did not receive a penalty.
“Unfortunately, we had to kill a lot of penalties,” said head coach Joe Bertucci. “But I thought overall we overcame adversity and we’re happy with the win.”
Adversity seemed to be the name of the game. Senior Alex Ebel said, “We controlled possession, we controlled the pace of play. We got in trouble with some penalties, but even then we still kind of dominated them. They had nothing on us. And that’s just kind of how we play.”
For the majority of the game, the boys allowed no goals. With several saves and deflections by senior goalie Andrew Raber, Cranford only scored one goal late in the second period. Even when Westfield was down a man on a Cranford power play, the Blue Devils kept Cranford to zero shots on goal.
Raber said, “We were absolutely dominant. I think that we were fired up to play them. I think on the penalty kill we did amazing.”
Although the boys exited this game victorious, there is much improvement to be made for Friday’s game.
“I think being disciplined is tremendously important. Last year it killed us,” said Raber. “I think that being disciplined is definitely the way to go. If we don’t give the other team any power play, they’re gonna have a really hard time scoring on us.”
The boys will play Summit at 3:45 p.m. on Friday at Union Sports Arena. Summit, having a reputation as being even more physical than Cranford, will be a true test to their strive towards discipline.
“We know for a fact that we’re the best team in the state, but we’re not afraid to prove that,” said Ebel.
