As flags were being thrown and parents stood from the bleachers screaming in disbelief, the tensions grew between No. 4 Westfield and No. 6 ranked St. Augustine. This game can be described in three words: chaos, aggression and frustration. The Blue Devils fell 3-8, in a slippery matchup against St. Augustine.
Coming off a historic win against Summit in the Union County Final, Westfield was still in celebration mode. Head coach William Wertheimer said, “I think we sort of came into it with the Union County Final hangover, and it showed.” Based on the rainy weather conditions and the slow game for Blue Devils, “Energy was so low throughout the team,” senior quad-captain Christian Gilford echoed.
In the first quarter, senior quad-captain Colin Coyle scored the first goal of the game, sniping a shot to the back of the net. However, this momentum quickly ended as St. Augustine responded less than a minute later, making the score 1-1. The last seven minutes of the quarter, the defense locked down St. Augustine while the offense struggled to get a shot off.
Throughout the second quarter, Westfield wasn’t in possession of the ball for a majority of the quarter, allowing St. Augustine to take control of the game. The Blue Devils defense allowed three more goals, while the offense couldn’t get a shot past St. Augustine’s goalie.
As the game continued tensions rose amongst players, coaches, parents and referees. Both teams were playing a scrappy game, leading to eight man-down situations for the Blue Devils. Despite the immense pressure on the defense, they were able to keep their composure and stop some of the Hermits relentless attack. Senior quad-captain and defender Drew Pravlik said, “Most of their goals were on fast breaks or man-down plays, our six on six defense was good. We just need to focus on controlling unnecessary penalties and dropping back in from defense to prevent fast breaks.”
Many penalties were thrown in favor of St. Augustine, and Blue Devil fans began to yell in frustration as they felt the fouls were unwarranted. Not only could people hear the Westfield fans, but St. Augustine fans began to yell too, even causing some disturbance to the players. As gameplay paused and chaos ensued, Westfield tried to maintain composure as their starting goalie and senior quad captain Corey Gilford was removed from the game due to an injury.
In times of madness keeping composure is key. Christian Gilford said, “I always remind my teammates to stay composed and not let our emotions get the best of us because it isn’t going to help us out in the game.”
The Blue Devils play a top ranked Don Bosco team, home at 4:30 on May 19. Pravlik said, moving forward, “We are going to flush it. Move on to the next. We know we can play at a higher quality lacrosse than we did today and come out with more energy next game.
