With Westfield trailing by two and 9:44 left to go in the third quarter, senior co-captain Caroline Loggie found junior Avery Schwarzenbeck with an opening and an attempt to bring the score to 2-1. Although Schwarzenbeck fired the shot past the goalkeeper and cut the deficit to just one, the Blue Devils were ultimately unable to come out on top, falling to South Plainfield 3-1 in their last home game of the season.
Despite the score, the Blue Devils were able to battle for the entirety of the game while demonstrating their resilience and teamwork until the final whistle.
The team entered today’s game understanding the strength of the South Plainfield squad, who came in with a 14-4 record. Even though the Blue Devils stand at 3-12-2 on the season, head coach Corinne Varhley shared how their record is not accurately representative of the team as a whole, given the fight they have put forth in every game this season.
“We haven’t had a great record and that happens from time to time, but what’s really special about this team is that they come back game after game, and practice after practice, and work really hard,” Varhley said. “We give teams a run for their money and we make sure they know not to count us out.”
Despite the loss, the Blue Devils had a noteworthy performance on the field and were able to keep the score close for the entire game, fueled by both the defense and attack.
Loggie said, “Today I think our team’s energy was really high. I think the defense was really locked in and we did a good job using free hits in order to get cards on the other team.”
At the start of the game, the Tigers were the first to open up the scoring as they were able to get one past the Blue Devils just around five minutes in. The rest of the quarter was back-and-forth with the score standing still at 1-0, even with numerous shots from Westfield.
Even with strong defensive efforts from the Blue Devils, the Tigers were able to score again in the second quarter with 13:26 left, making the score 2-0.
Regardless of the explosiveness of the Tigers’ offense, the Blue Devils were able to come up with several stops in order to not fall to an even larger deficit throughout the first half.
Junior co-captain Ashely McGeough said, “We were able to readjust and mark up one of their players which we knew was going to be a challenge. Our small ball on the sidelines was a lot better than it’s been for the season and we were really able to work on that.”
The score remained the same for the rest of the first half, with both teams unable to convert their chances on goal.
Heading into halftime, the Blue Devils were down 2-0, knowing the game was still not over and that they still had a chance to put points on the board.
The third quarter opened with intensity from the Westfield lineup as they were able to get many shots off and kept the South Plainfield defense on their toes, before Schwarzenbeck was able to find the back of the net around five minutes in.
South Plainfield was quick to respond, however, as they were able to punch one in on junior goalkeeper Ava Tankard with four minutes to go. Tankard came away from the game with 3 saves and an impressive performance in goal, limiting the Tigers’ scoring opportunities.
The Blue Devils were able to create a lot of action near the Tigers’ net within the last two minutes of the fourth quarter as they were able to find some momentum and offensive rhythm. As Westfield was inches away from sneaking one past the Tigers, the South Plainfield goalkeeper was able to clear the ball away at the last second, which ended up sealing the game 3-1 for South Plainfield.
McGeough said, “I think today and all year our biggest issue has been getting it in the cage. I think we definitely had a lot of opportunities down in the circle, but we were just not able to capitalize.”
Nevertheless, the Blue Devils remained competitive throughout the entire match, showcasing their determination and perseverance.
Varhley said, “I think what we can take away from today is just not giving up. In the second half we had a lot of momentum, we were intercepting a lot of balls and kept putting ourselves on the attack and kept putting them on their heels.”
Westfield will be on the road on Thursday against Kent Place at 4:00 p.m., who they fell to last season, in their final game of the year.
