It was a historic season to say the least.
The Blue Devils were the underdogs of New Jersey field hockey. Led by senior captains Julia Schneider, Ella McLane and Emma Ceraso, Westfield was ready to make itself known.
The season started off extremely rocky with a 5-0 loss to Montclair followed by a 3-2 loss to Millburn. However, it was this Millburn matchup that lit a raging fire in the Blue Devils since it showed that the girls could compete against higher ranked teams. The girls fought hard all game with goals from Schneider and junior Lucy Mineo. This never-quitting theme would come into play further down the road for the Blue Devils.
“Coming off the initial 5-0 Montclair loss, the next game was that Millburn loss. That was an early wake up call for all of us,” said head coach Corinne Varhley. “We were up 2-0 and gave up the lead for them to tie it in regulation, losing in overtime. That was a tough pill to swallow.”
The fire and determination that was ignited propelled Westfield forward with wins in its next five games. The Blue Devils had key victories over rival Scotch Plains-Fanwood, 5-1, and Columbia, 11-0.
“It was a great bounce back,” said Varhley. “Honestly I think the girls wanted to rewrite the script and show other teams in the conference that we should not be taken lightly.”
With a 6-0 loss to Oak Knoll followed by two more wins, things were looking good for the Blue Devils and they were getting better every game. Their offense was becoming more aggressive, their defense was impenetrable, and senior goalie Lauren Mcdonough could be compared to a brick wall.
However, things took a turn for the worse once the Blue Devils entered the Union County Tournament. Following its first round bye, Westfield was upset, 2-0, by ALJ in the quarterfinals. This stunned the Blue Devils since they defeated ALJ, 1-0, in the fourth game into the season.
After this loss, Westfield seemed to fall apart. The Blue Devils took tough losses to West Essex, Glen Ridge and Kent Place. At this point, Westfield realized that it needed to regroup to have a chance at making a run in the sectional tournament.
The Blue Devils worked hard at practice, focusing on the little things that hurt them and expanding their game in order to compete with the competition to come. This hard effort translated perfectly into the Blue Devils’ play as they tacked on two crucial wins against Governor Livingston and Metuchen before the sectional tournament.
“I think the games in the beginning of the season really exposed our major weaknesses and we were able to learn from this,” said Ceraso. “As we focused on specific skills and drills in practice, our game completely turned around. We also grew so much closer as a team as the season progressed, and once we started winning and getting excited, we remained motivated.”
Determined, aggressive, and dominant are three words that described the nine-seeded Blue Devils coming into their first-round sectional tournament matchup against Livingston. Fighting hard through double overtime, Westfield escaped with a 3-2 win. While the Blue Devils were thrilled to move on, their next game would put their hard work to the ultimate test.
In the sectional quarterfinal round, No. 9 Westfield faced No. 1 seed Montclair, who shut out the Blue Devils 5-0 in the first game of the season. Despite doubts, McLane and sophomore Emma Blake had other plans, scoring crucial goals as the Blue Devils played their most intense game of the season and were incredible on offense.
The Blue Devils finished the game with a 3-0 victory to take down Montclair, shocking the state. This upset is sure to go down as one of the greatest in Westfield athletics history.
With Westfield overcoming the No. 1 seed in the tournament, it was surely a true Cinderella story at its finest. The Blue Devils faced No. 5 Phillipsburg in the sectional semifinals and had high hopes of continuing their playoff run. Despite this momentum, Westfield struggled greatly against Phillipsburg and lost, 6-0, to end their exciting run and season with a 12-8-1 record.
Although the Blue Devils didn’t end the season the way they intended to, they achieved a few extraordinary accomplishments throughout the season. McLane broke the 28-year-old Westfield field hockey single-season goals record as she ended the season with an unbelievable 21 goals. Other big goalscorers for Westfield included Schneider who ended with nine goals, Blake with five goals and freshman Emma Schwarzenbek who ended with four. Westfield was backed by their strong defense led by senior Lindsey Doyle, sophomore Abi Mokrzycki and senior Emily Leary. The Blue Devils also won a sectional quarterfinal game for the first time since the 2018 season.
“This group of girls is incredibly close. We’re all great friends on and off the field, which made playing together so fun and made our teamwork unstoppable,” said Ceraso. “Also, we all were really motivated to get far in the state tournament, and this common goal brought us together and kept us enthusiastic throughout the entirety of the season.”
Varhley agrees with this idea about the team being united throughout the season and constantly fighting towards their championship goal. “They were very competitive at practice and thrived in high pressure situations. The girls all had goals for the season and many of them wanted to perform well in the section. [The seniors] paved the way for future teams and the girls now know what’s in our grasp.”
With Westfield’s 2022-23 season complete, the Blue Devils set a victorious tone for Westfield field hockey teams to come and left their vicious mark on New Jersey field hockey.
