The first droplets, subtle hints of forthcoming rain, plinked down as the five matches toiled through their first few games. Then the barely noticeable drizzle transformed into a steady rain.
The courts slickened, bright green-and-blue surfaces darkening. Coaches soon waved players off the courts in this Friday afternoon match between No. 10 Westfield (14-1, 4-0 UCC Watchung) and No. 1 Pingry (9-0, 6-0 Skyland Delaware) at the Pingry School.
A Pingry coach stood on a set of bleachers, craned his head toward the sky, peered up, announced it would all pass in five minutes.
It didn’t.
A cloud had darkened Pingry’s sprawling campus and its glittering expanse of manicured fields, and it refused to depart. So the exodus to the buses began.
“In effect, what we had here was a high-level practice against another team,” said George Kapner, Westfield’s head coach. “This was gonna be a valuable match,” he added, “because it tells us where we are. And if you want to be the best, you have to play the best. So that’s what we did.”
At least for about 30 minutes.
The rain fell with the matches still residing in that territory before a discernible pattern emerged. So it’s difficult to predict whether Westfield’s hopes of a seismic upset would have persisted. But winning, handing the Big Blue their first loss, always appeared a tall order. Even more so when the first serves flew and the matches commenced.
“Today was a good wake up call, because, like, ‘oh my god, they’re that good,’” Kapner said. “So that’s a good thing for them to know. That’s the level you can expect as you get further and closer and closer and closer to the top.”
To reach the top, to ascend the mountain, Westfield must soon begin climbing. The Union County Tournament stands just over a week in the distance, on May 17 and 18. The North 2, Group 4 sectional tournament begins on May 26.
But before the Blue Devils can launch into preparation for those two season-defining tournaments, they’ll compete in a pair of smaller ones.
The Blue Devil Invitational, Westfield’s own four-team tournament, is Saturday. The Blue Devils face Montville in the semifinals and will stare down either No. 2 Millburn or No. 6 Delbarton in the final. Westfield previously defeated Delbarton, 3-2, to open the season.
That win began a seven-game win streak, terminated by a narrow 3-2 loss to No. 5 East Brunswick. But then Westfield ripped off another seven wins, including a 3-2 triumph over No. 15 Summit, Westfield’s only notable competition in Union County.
In the interval between the Blue Devil Invitational and the UCT, Westfield also will compete in the Newark Academy Invitational, an eight-team tournament stuffed with vaunted teams. Delbarton and Millburn and East Brunswick and No. 8 Ridge will be there. So, of course, will the host, No. 3 Newark Academy.
Talk about a loaded bracket.
Westfield will soon wade into this torrent of tournaments. Kapner expects positive results.
“I’m happy with where we are,” he said. “Everything.”
Just keep the rain away.
