Five minutes left in the first half. Up 1-0, Westfield refused to go into halftime with the game this close. Senior captain Ella Cadigan stepped up. She huddled among the Franklin defenders, a blue impostor in their midst, trying not to draw suspicion. The ball was crossed in from the far side of the field. Cadigan drew it in. Two dribbles and a quick strike. The ball flew into the top left corner, out of the goalkeeper’s reach. Cadigan’s second goal of the day. 2-0, Westfield.
The Blue Devils’ utter dominance against the Warriors in their 3-0 shutout was due to the success on both sides of the ball. Sophomore goalkeeper Sofia Buoscio tallied six saves on the day. Cadigan’s two-goal performance was her fourth of that nature in a row.
Head coach Alex Schmidt believes that may be a result of the disappointment of Westfield’s loss in the Union County Tournament. “Ever since our county loss where we didn’t score any goals, Ella has been on fire on the attack,” he said. “When the state tournament comes, and you’re a senior and our captain, you get that extra boost of energy. And she has that right now.”
To start the game, Westfield was just as on fire as their captain. A long, streaking shot on goal from junior Audra Toth connected, but the score was called back after celebrations. The official ruled the play offsides. The Blue Devils broke onto the scoreboard with a header goal from Cadigan with 25 minutes left in the first half, her 13th goal of her senior year.
Cadigan was happy with the way they started off: “I think the first half went really well. We were getting a lot of shots off. The second half was a little rough, but we cleaned it up at the end.”
“I think we got a little tired in the second half. [It] wasn’t as good as the first. So [we have to] make sure that we finish games,” said Schmidt.
The defensive side also played phenomenally. Schmidt recognized their talent despite their young age. “All year we’ve had lockdown defense” with Callie Schmidt, Olivia DiGregorio and Buoscio, “all sophomores,” he said. “Shutouts are always good in the state tournament.”
Franklin struggled to get past this defensive line, each attempt at scoring coming to a close quickly. The Warriors were able to squeeze some shots off, but Buoscio would always be there waiting. With just under ten minutes left in the first half, she made a leaping save to silence one of Franklin’s best offensive pushes. A minute later, a Warrior shot bounced off of the sidebar of the goal. Buoscio fell on the rebound to prevent a follow-up shot.
In the second half, a foul committed by Toth gave Franklin a free kick near the Westfield goal. The shot soared over players’ heads and rammed into the crossbar, allowing the Blue Devil defense to clear it quickly.
Franklin failed to post a score the entire game, and a full line substitution at the end of the second half signified their complete surrender. This happened after junior Brooke Morrison lofted a shot over the Warrior goalie to put the Blue Devils up, 3-0.
Westfield takes on No. 12 seed Bridgewater-Raritan in the North 2, Group 4 Sectional Tournament semifinals on Thursday at 2 p.m. at home. Bridgewater-Raritan has taken down No. 5 seed Watchung Hills and No. 4 seed Elizabeth in the sectional tournament so far.
Looking forward to this game, Cadigan said they will be “working out our possession building out of the back,” so they can be “getting crosses off that are effective so we can finish them.”
