Scotch Plains-Fanwood missed their fifth and final penalty kick of the match. Both teams had scored two of their four penalty kicks so far. From both sides of Gary Kehler Stadium, supportive chants and berating insults of school names were exchanged as junior Niko Pierce lined up to take the last kick for the Blue Devils. Stepping up to the line, he went through the motions of his pre-kick routine, mentally preparing for his game-changing role.
The Westfield students cheered following a save from senior goalkeeper Lucas Gunzberg. Gunzberg gave the Blue Devils one more chance at victory, and he passed the torch to Pierce. All you could hear was an incoherent wave of sound as SPF fans screamed to intimidate Pierce. Pierce struck the ball and the goalkeeper dove but to the wrong side. As he buried the ball in the back of the net, the Raiders’ noise was reduced to a whisper while Westfield’s sound erupted. The Blue Devils had cemented themselves as back-to-back sectional champions. Teammates rushed Pierce, students poured onto the field, families hugged… this was a game they would never forget.
A controversial call had forced the game to penalty kicks. After regulation time expired, the score was still 0-0. The first overtime yielded the same result, and with little left in the tank, the Blue Devils had 10 final minutes to score and win the game before penalty kicks would begin.
With mere seconds left on the double overtime clock, junior Ethan Wade sent a ball from the backfield. Carrying over the heads of the Scotch Plains defenders, senior Adam Tukaczynski broke through the defense to reach the ball. Tukaczyski faked out the goalie, burying the ball in the back of the net. As Westfield began to celebrate, the referees called back the goal, claiming time had expired. Tukaczynski shared, “It’s unfortunate. I was ready to go, but it’s just unlucky the time ran out. But, in the end, it doesn’t matter because we won.” As disappointing as this was to the Blue Devils, the boys quickly switched gears as they prepared for the penalty kicks that laid ahead.
Penalty kicks, like any other aspect of Westfield’s game, are practiced during training. Leaving a game down to penalties, however, becomes a coin toss. No amount of training can replicate the atmosphere of a sectional game, and one can never know how the moment will unfold until it is happening. “You can’t replicate in this moment the atmosphere and nerves and what’s on the line,” said head coach Eric Shaw. “So, they get into these moments and it’s always difficult to see how they’re going to respond. Some thrive under pressure like Niko and then some might crumble.”
Another player that thrived under pressure was Gunzberg. Senior Luke Tennant had been the Blue Devils’ goalkeeper throughout the game and both overtime rounds. Tennant made every save when the Blue Devils were counting on him. But, Gunzberg always steps up for penalty kicks and commits to his save, no matter what. “He’s our man, he’s got ice in his veins,” commented Pierce.
The way that Pierce, Gunzberg, and the rest of the team stayed level-headed throughout the game could be attributed to their captains, seniors Zach Preucil and David Savransky. “If a kid puts his head down, they go right over and they’ll tell you, ‘Hey, pick your head up. Let’s just keep going. Keep moving forward. You make a mistake, it happens, but keep going’” said Pierce. Before Pierce took his penalty kick, he was given words of advice from Preucil. Pierce said, “I was telling Zach, man I’m fifth, I could either lose us or win us this game. He was just like, ‘take a deep breath, man,’ and as I stood over the ball, the first thing I did was take two deep breaths.” And everybody knows what Pierce did next.
Besides the heroic performances during the penalty kicks, most of the match was controlled by Westfield, although the score sheet may not say so. Their defense halted any advance the Raiders made, gaining possession and beginning the advance downfield. The Blue Devil defense shone throughout the game. Savransky made multiple slide tackles, taking the ball away from the SPF forwards and killing their momentum. Juniors Ethan Wade and Jake Pardes made solid play across the backfield, not only stopping attacks from the Raiders but also carrying the ball upfield when necessary.
All the players were connected with the forwards and backs working together to influence the pace of the game. However, this was not enough to break the stalemate that had developed between these rivals. SPF’s defense and goalkeeping withstood any attempt on goal through regulation time and into overtime which inevitably sent the match to penalty kicks.
Winning this game means something special to each person on the team for one reason or another. But, for the two senior captains, this win is not just special, it means everything to them. “It means literally everything, this is the best day of my life by far. I’m kind of speechless right now. It’s like years and years and years of work. To win junior year and senior year, it means everything to me,” commented Savransky.
After a tough loss in the conference playoffs, the boys understood that this was the rest of their season and their chance to bring home a trophy. This message was echoed by Preucil. “It was a great opportunity to change the banner, which is a saying that we have. We didn’t win our conference, unfortunately, we lost to Elizabeth in the semis. So being able to come here and take it to PK’s makes it all the more stressful, but all the more sweeter. It meant everything for us, and for me.”
This sectional title does not just mean a lot to the players on this team, but every team this program will produce in the future. “We put a banner in our locker room with every winning championship that we’ve had,” Shaw explained. “First thing we talk about is changing the banner. Everybody in the program knows their goal is to change that banner.” This banner is marked with each time a Blue Devils boys soccer team has brought home a conference, county, sectional, or state title. The goal of “changing the banner” is a constant reminder that each and every game, especially in the playoffs, is a step towards not just a championship, but a chance to be apart of a legacy. Reaching up and writing in a “23” on the banner serves as a reminder of all that this team has gone through together and accomplishing the goal they set when they entered the Westfield soccer program.
Westfield still has a chance to add to their banner. They will take on Kearny away on Wednesday at 4 p.m. for the Group 4 semifinals, hoping to place a spot in the championship.
