In a thrilling matchup, tied for a majority of the 80 minutes, senior co-captain Alex Rokhsar scored from the top of the 18, putting Westfield in the lead with 9 minutes remaining in the game. This win gives the Blue Devils a record of 4-1 for the season thus far.
Throughout the entire game, both teams demonstrated intense physicality. Junior Reean Dias said, “We knew going into this game that they were going to be physical. By watching film, we were prepared for that. We knew we had to master our physicality if we wanted to win, and that’s what we did.”
The physical nature of the game resulted in a number of fouls called and players down, especially on the Rahway side. The Blue Devils maintained possession for much of the first half, but when Rahway scored, making the game 1-0, Westfield did not put their heads down.
“We were resilient when coming back,” said senior co-captain Sam Judka. “We knew there was a lot of game left and we weren’t rushing to find the goal.” With 18 minutes left in the first half, Judka scored his third goal of the season, assisted by senior Ben Lyons.
Senior Simon Gunzberg also made key saves throughout the game, with many occurring in the tense second half. Last year, Westfield beat Rahway 1-0 with a late goal, so they were accustomed to the team’s playing style. Judka added, “We knew we would be the better team and keep the ball better, but finding the back of the net was going to be important.”
Head coach Eric Shaw and the team will look to improve their ball control in upcoming games. “We gave two or three balls away, causing us issues on the defensive end,” Shaw said.
Regarding the role of the defense in the game, Dias said, “We had a slow start, giving up a goal, but we never stopped believing in ourselves. After the goal, we responded well, and they didn’t get a lot more chances after that.”
Westfield’s patience and determination, which carried over from the first into the second half, ensured the end result, despite the aggression from both sides and tension throughout the game.
The team looks to carry this intensity into their matchup against New Providence away on at 4 p.m. on Thursday.
