With a scoreless third quarter and a silent Westfield crowd, coupled with a booming Summit bench, an atmosphere of defeat overshadowed the Blue Devils during a long 2-5 deficit. Many believed the 2024 Union County Tournament championship trophy had already been handed to the Hilltoppers. Yet, coming out of a fearful man-down, senior captain Michael Marshall found the ball, blazed down the field, plowed through maroon jerseys and whipped the ball between the Summit poles.
Westfield was revived.
Sounds of the bleachers reverberated from student screams and stomps, the air was filled with shouts from the Westfield bench and the ground was decorated with white jerseys as the JV squad rolled around in celebration. With Marshall’s goal lighting the way, and Westfield’s unwavering intensity, the Blue Devils had 10 minutes to overcome Summit’s 2-point lead.
In spite of the momentum, they did not. The county tournament championship ended with No. 2 seed Summit beating No. 1 seed Westfield, 5-6, an outcome that has yet to change since 2017. It is no secret that the UCT final field is dominated by blue and maroon jerseys; it has been this way for the past 12 years, and the last five titles have gone to Summit. However, Westfield did take this year’s regular season game to break the Hilltoppers’ seven-year win streak in this match-up.
And it was not with a lack of grit that Westfield fell short of the 2024 title.
“[Westfield] never gave up. These boys had heart from the goalie to the face-off guy to the offense and defense. [They gave] 110% and never gave up at any point and kept us in this game at all times,” said head coach William Wertheimer.
The near future after Marshall’s goal seemed promising when senior Josh Caramagno, who tallied 8 of the 14 faceoffs, won possession, and the Blue Devils got multiple second chances from hustling players chasing missed shots.
However, the Hilltoppers responded with a goal of their own with just under five minutes left in the game.
Then, a deflected Westfield attempt on the Summit goal resulted in Hilltopper possession, and just as Summit cleared the ball to mid-field, senior captain Jack Parris intercepted the pass and quickly dished it to junior Garret Ferguson.
Ferguson capitalized on the sudden change in possession and scored off the fast break, thus closing the gap once again to two goals at 4-6. At this point, Westfield’s only opponent was the clock with only 2:30 left in the game. Caramagno won the following faceoff and Summit called a timeout in hopes of terminating Westfield’s momentum.
The timeout was a waste.
After a few passes, junior Colin Coyle found senior Cody Lam cutting down the center, and after a dynamic pass, the scoreboard gleamed a one-point difference, 5-6.
“We went down early, but we didn’t let that crush us, we kept fighting and ended up making it a game,” said senior captain Danny McGann. Winning seemed possible now for the Blue Devils, and there was a clear vision of that trophy in their hands instead of Summit’s.
Caramagno won the faceoff, giving Westfield one last chance to tie the game. Using their time wisely, the Blue Devils passed the ball around the perimeter until Lam saw an opening and launched the ball from the 12-yard line.
No one could see the ball. It darted past players, and for a second it vanished. Slight confusion permeated through the audience. But, the ball reappeared in Summit goalie, Robbie Kievit’s, pocket and the Hilltoppers idly passed the ball for the remaining 19 seconds in the game.
McGann said, “[Summit] was really well coached, and they came out prepared. I don’t think we took a step back. We just had one bad quarter, and that came back to haunt us.”
A Westfield-dominant tone spiced the air early on in the game, after Coyle scored by circling the back of the crease. But, the Hilltoppers went on a four-goal streak to close the first quarter.
Marshall said, “Offensively, [Summit] was able to break our zone early, which was tough, but when we switched to man [defense] they only scored two goals.”
The second quarter saw a trade-off of goals from Summit and Westfield’s junior Billy Gerne, and the third quarter gave no action to the scoreboard.
The low-scoring game exemplifies the defensive attitude on both teams. The game was burdened with long offensive possessions and a total of 19 saves by Kievit and Westfield’s goalie, junior Corey Gilford.
Ultimately, with their early lead, Summit persevered, and as the buzzer sounded, maroon jerseys covered the green turf. The Hilltoppers whooped and hollered as they posed holding their sixth consecutive UCT title.
In reaction to the first quarter events, McGann said, “Now we just have to realize we can’t take any quarters off.”
Marshall agreed, “I feel like once we play a full four quarters we’re going to be the best team in the state. We can’t have that one-quarter slip up… we get four goals scored on us [in one quarter] and don’t put any in – it needs to be a full game.”
Even with the unfortunate outcome from last night’s game, McGann said, “I am still proud of my team, and I don’t think we took any steps back today. We just need to keep pushing forward.”
The Blue Devils will push forward and play their last regular season game on May 18 at 1:00 p.m. against Don Bosco Prep.
