With the game already in their pocket, senior quad-captain Colin Coyle swiftly created separation from the Parsippany Hills defender and threaded the needle to senior Garrett Ferguson, wide open on the crease for a score, giving Westfield an 8-1 lead. While this goal may have seemed ordinary, it held immense importance. For Ferguson, this goal was his 70th goal of the season, breaking the WHS record for goals in a single season. However, it wasn’t just Ferguson’s moment. For Coyle, this assist gave him his 100th point for this season.
Ferguson said, “I broke the school record, and on the same goal, Colin hit 100 points, which was really cool. I scored a lot of my goals because of him [Coyle], so it was really awesome to have the assist from him.” With history being made, the Blue Devils were able to secure the win 16-2, advancing them to the next round of the state tournament.
By the middle of the third quarter, the Blue Devils began to clear their bench. Taking out all of their starters, they gave new players a chance to take the field. Senior quad-captain Christian Gilford, “It was great that we got the full program in today. My little brother got to go in, and that was super special.”
Gilford set the tone for the game early on, securing a point for the Blue Devils just a minute and a half into the game. Building on this momentum, the Westfield offense exploded. Ferguson found the back of the net four more times before being taken out of the game. The Blue Devil’s top offensive performers did an outstanding job producing for Westfield. Goals came from a plethora of scorers, including seniors Luke Angelo, Luke Gerne, Billy Gerne, junior Cooper Cimei and sophomore Koby Waldman.
With the offense being in control for a vast majority of the game, the defense didn’t get much action on their end of the field. Parsippany Hills was able to net one early in the first quarter, however, they could not get another goal until the very end of the fourth quarter. When the Blue Devils did have the opportunity to play defense, they would quickly take the ball right back and return it to the offense.
The game may not have been the most exciting for the Blue Devils, nevertheless, it marks the beginning of what they are looking to make a long and successful state tournament. All their gears are firing in the direction of repeating as Group 4 State Champions, and they would be disappointed with any other outcome.
The Blue Devils are back in action on Thursday at 2:00 p.m., facing off against Montclair at home. The Blue Devils are looking to keep their state run alive in the semi-final round and advance forward in the tournament. Full of confidence, senior quad captain Drew Pravlik said, “We just need to keep the positive energy moving on to the next game. It doesn’t matter who we are playing, if we just play our game, we can beat anybody.” Head coach William Wertheimer echoed that, saying, “Today we played lacrosse how Westfield lacrosse plays and hopefully we carry that into the next game.”
