The sounds of warmup hype music echoed through Warinanco Park Skating Center as Westfield faced Randolph in a heated matchup. Randolph’s confidence was high after defeating Westfield year after year, showing no remorse on the developing team, including an 8–3 win over the Blue Devils on Dec. 14.
The Blue Devils were underdogs, to say the least, but they were determined to show who was truly the better team. With Westfield fans at the edge of their seats, the Blue Devils took the ice to put on one of their best performances yet.
“Our offensive strategy going into this game was better puck control and to utilize our points,” said senior co-captain Lillie Martel.
In only the first few minutes of the first period, both teams already had several shots on goal. Constant shots being put on net was a common theme throughout the first period, but both goalies remained strong, freezing the puck when necessary. However, the Blue Devils started to make mistakes. With only three minutes left in the first period, a Randolph player slapped a shot from just across the offside mark, nailing it through the goalies’ legs to put the Rams on top 1–0.
It was evident Westfield prepared for the pressure of falling behind during a big matchup. Westfield continued to push on offense, taking advantage of any mistakes the Rams made. Eventually, the Rams’ defense caved in and the Blue Devils evened the score at 1–1 with a goal from sophomore Sienna Murray.
The tide turned completely. The Rams realized the game wasn’t going to be the easy win they were expecting. Westfield was ready to fight.
The start of the second period was absurdly intense. Randolph quickly regained its momentum by scoring on a breakaway goal, going ahead 2–1.
The Rams were playing viciously and picking up penalties. However, Randolph was fortunate that its goalie was making spectacular saves allowing them to keep the lead.
Despite Randolph’s goal early in the second period, it was clear that the Blue Devils were finally taking control over the game as they were getting continuous pressure on the Rams goalie. After several shot attempts, freshman Ella Delaney was able to put in a rebound goal tying the score at 2–2.
Immediately after, Westfield won the faceoff at center ice and stormed down the rink, leading to a game-changing goal from freshman Lauren Delaney. The Blue Devils were now able to go into the third period with a conservative style as they were now in full control of the game.
“After scoring a goal or two and having the lead, our energy on the bench increased and we were able to keep the momentum going for the rest of the game and come out on top,” said Martel.
Westfield dominated for a majority of the third period as they had a high completed-pass percentage and were able to consistently push the puck into the Rams’ territory.
Delaney had a spectacular game, working hard on the ice, and was able to extend the Blue Devils’ lead even further with a beautiful slapshot. With the score at 4–2, Westfield was starting to slip away with the victory.
The period was quiet for the most part; that was until tensions arose between the teams. The aggressive Blue Devil offense frustrated the Rams, and the game was becoming even more physical. With only about a minute on the clock, the Rams’ team captain picked up her fourth penalty of the game.
While Westfield was given the one-man advantage on the power play and focused on attacking, the Rams decided it was now or never and returned the aggression, leading to a goal.
Although the Rams increased their chances by pushing the score to 4–3, Westfield was fingertips away from its second win of the season and simply needed to run out the clock to close the game out.
The Blue Devils did so successfully, as Delaney was able to skate all around the Rams defense, putting up another beautiful shot to score and finally put the game out of reach. Westfield got its revenge, defeating Randolph, 5–3.
Although Westfield was able to come out on top, both teams played exceptionally physical, causing the game to go down to the wire. The Blue Devils were not only able to sneak out of Warinanco with their second win of the season, but they created a threat for their future opponents. Overall, the Blue Devils’ offense was a juggernaut as it weaved pucks all around Randolph’s goalkeeper which secured the victory.
The Blue Devils aren’t finished yet and are excited to continue to work on their growing team. “Our goaltender is improving drastically every game with good defense and we need to work on blocking more shots,” said Martel.
The Blue Devils hope to continue their win streak on Jan. 2 against Cranford, whom they previously defeated, 9–0.
1 comment
Great job Westfield! Please be sure to differentiate between the Delaney twins!