Westfield’s season came to an end in the North, Group 4 sectional final with a heartbreaking 10-6 loss to Ridgewood, whom Westfield had already lost to once before this season in a nail-biting matchup. On April 15, Westfield took a tight 7-6 loss to the Maroons in a four-overtime thriller. The Blue Devils did not come that close to Ridgewood on Tuesday, however, when they walked out of Gary Kehler Stadium for the last time this year.
Despite this unfortunate ending, the Blue Devils have a lot to show for their 2023 season. They finished with a winning 12-7 record and had the second-hardest schedule in the state according to laxnumbers.com. The Blue Devils faced seven top-20 teams this season and battled against each one. Their schedule included Prep A finalists, Group 3 sectional champions and Group 2, 3 and 4 champions.
“Our goal this year was to win a state championship,” said senior co-captain and Cornell commit Ryan Waldman. “We came up short of that but we did hold ourselves to a very high standard and we’re all proud of the way we competed and fought together.”
The Blue Devils started the season with one of their toughest matchups, against their in-county rival Summit. Ultimately, Westfield lost by 1 goal, which seemed all too familiar on May 6, when they fell to Summit by 1 goal once again, this time in the Union County Tournament final.
After their season opener, the Blue Devils breezed through Montclair and Columbia before facing Ridgewood for the first time. After falling to the Maroons, the Blue Devils had a dominating victory over West Essex, balancing out their record to 3-2 before facing Seton Hall Prep. This was one of the toughest games for the Blue Devils this season as the Pirates scored 15 goals, the most of any team against Westfield.
Westfield then went on a four-game winning streak, allowing it to bounce back and rebuild. During this tear the Blue Devils took down Wall, a top-20 team at the time. Also, an expected close game against highly ranked Chatham turned into a shooting clinic for Westfield, where it put away 13 goals and won by 10 goals.
“The Chatham game was off, on, off, then on again because of the weather,” head coach William Wertheimer said. “When it was time to play Westfield came out with an energy that the 13-3 score reflects.”
Included in this four-game run, the Blue Devils entered the Union County Tournament. In the semifinals they faced Scotch Plains-Fanwood, which was an easy victory, but the Blue Devils were faced with other challengers. Starting defenseman and Cornell commit Michael Marshall went down after suffering a hamstring injury, leaving him on the sideline for weeks. Many players faced injuries this season, but Wertheimer said, “People who needed to step up did.”
In the two games to follow the Blue Devils would face back-to-back losses. After their county final loss, Westfield traveled to Pingry to defend the Bristol Cup, but for the first time in 11 years the Big Blue stole it and left Westfield with its fifth loss of the season.
Westfield had a few more regular-season games left before the state tournament began, where it clinched the No. 1 seed for North, Group 4. Westfield dominated every game in the tournament leading up to the sectional final, but fell short to Ridgewood.
“We would play one game really well and then not our best in the next,” said Waldman. “Luckily we found our groove towards the end of the year and had a lot of success up until the very end.”
Westfield held its own against many of the best teams in the state this year and was led by a strong group of upperclassmen whose individual performances helped propel the team to victory in many scenarios. “All of our seniors had a unique ability to connect with the underclassmen on the field,” said junior Princeton commit Cody Lam.
Senior Lafayette commit Danny Hazard played a key role in many of Westfield’s offensive successes this year. He won 77 percent of his faceoffs and added 5 goals and 2 assists.
Many Blue Devils received individual postseason honors, including Waldman, who was rightfully named New Jersey Attackman of the Year. Waldman finished this season with 44 goals and 25 assists and the most points on the team. Cody Lam finished the season with a team-high 52 goals.
Six Westfield players were named first-team All-State, including Waldman, Lam, Trey Brown, Quinn Wojcik, Hazard and Dylan Wragg. Marshall was named second-team All-State, and Jonathan Boufarah and Dan Hanlon were both honorable mentions. Wertheimer was also voted New Jersey State Coach of the Year for Group 4, he told Hi’s Eye Sports.
Brown, a University of Maryland commit and co-captain, led the Westfield defense this season after being a three-year starter. “I felt that communication was my biggest strength this year on the field,” said Brown. “I knew I had big shoes to fill with Eric Webb as the past captain on defense so I tried to emulate my leadership like his.”
The Blue Devils will go into next season looking to fill the shoes of the 18 seniors graduating this year.
“Losing 18 seniors would hurt any team, but this group of young men were leaders, and left the program better than when they entered it,” said Wertheimer. “They showed the underclassmen what it means to work hard and have dedication to this program. The returning players now will need to keep that same level of dedication to honor the legacy left by this graduating class.”
