The score was tied 8-8 at the end of regulation. Thirteen seconds into overtime, Scotch Plains-Fanwood scores to take them to the Union County Finals.
The Raiders went into the game strong, securing three goals in the first three minutes of the game. The Blue Devils stayed strong and refused to let SPF’s lead affect their gameplaying. Head coach William Wertheimer said, “I don’t think it has anything to do with the game being against SPF. I think it has a lot to do with the environment. It is under the lights and at night. We had a huge crowd so we started off a little bit wide-eyed and it took us some time to get into the game.”
The Blue Devils picked up the pace in the second quarter. Senior tri-captain Luke Spaide found the back of the net to secure their second goal of the game. Soon after, junior Kieran Gerne tied up the game scoring two more goals. Gerne said, “Our offense played well yesterday. We started slow but once we started dodging the short sticks everything started to open up.”
Halftime ended 5-5. The Blue Devils worked hard to get in the lead and make their best attempts at securing the win. Sophomore Cooper Rosen scores a goal to put them up by one. Less than 20 seconds later, the Raiders regained the lead with 2 goals.
The game continued to move back and forth as both teams demonstrated grit and perseverance. Senior tri-captain Ben Seward found a way to make an interception, pass it up, giving junior Harrison Rekemeier the opportunity to lessen the gap on the scoreboard. Both sides were on their feet as sophomore Patrick Smith tied up the game again with only one minute left in the fourth quarter. Gerne said, “The highlight of the game was Patick Smith tying it up in the last quarter. If it wasn’t for that goal, we wouldn’t have been able to have the chance to go into overtime.”
With the small amount of overtime, SPF found a way to prevent the Blue Devils from advancing to the county finals for the first time in two decades. With rivals SPF taking down the Blue Devils for the second time this season, the team felt the effects of the heavy loss. Although they made a great effort and executed the big aspects well, senior Kevin Reynders said, “We need to improve on the little details such as first ground balls and successfully clearing the ball to get it from defense to offense.”
Getting ready for states, Wertheimer agreed that this will be a key focus in practices to ensure they can secure more wins throughout the tournament. Despite the loss, the Blue Devils refuse to give up and are hoping to come back strong on Monday at Haddonfield at 5:30 p.m.
