The Blue Devils had a memorable season as it came to a close on Nov. 23, ending with a 1-0 win over Eastern securing the Group 4 State Title. Westfield finished the season ranked fifth in the state and 12th nationally.
Ranked 10th in the state at the beginning of the season, the Blue Devils had a lot to prove with high expectations. Senior co-captain Audra Toth said, “Once the season started we knew we had a lot of talent and throughout the fall we just needed to figure out how to use our individual talent and put it together to make a winning team.”
The Blue Devils were led by senior co-captains Toth and Erin Hazard. As Toth played on the offensive side and Hazard played on the defensive side, there was a balance in leadership and experience, allowing both sides of the field to be dynamic. Assistant coach Katie Wertheimer said, “Audra and Erin were not only performance leaders who executed whatever we asked of them and worked hard to set an example for our younger players but also led our team socially. We have two ninth grade players on this team who felt super comfortable, talking to all of the seniors and the senior captains, and these are kids who are playing in college, and that can be really intimidating. So I think that that says a lot about our leadership.”
The Blue Devils finished their season 20-1 falling to only Elizabeth six games into the season. Hazard said, “We overcame losing to Elizabeth in the middle of our season, which was an unexpected loss that really hit us hard, but that really altered the path of our season.” Moving forward for the Blue Devils was a breeze. The team was unstoppable and they created a clear path for themselves moving through the county, sectional, and state tournaments.
After losing in the county semi-finals last year to Oak Knoll, the Blue Devils were more motivated than ever and flew through the tournament. They met up with Summit in the finals and ultimately were victorious with a 2-1 win, next up was the sectional tournament.
Hazard said, “When the sectional tournament starts, it’s kind of a new part of our season. It becomes a completely different game, and every team that you play is gonna be different.”
The Blue Devils went through the sectional tournament only conceding one goal throughout all four games. They came back bigger and better against Elizabeth in the sectional semifinals beating them 4-1 and topping Bridgewater 1-0 in the sectional final.
The team advanced to the state semifinals where they dominated Montclair 4-0 on their turf. After that their confidence was on the rise and they felt prepared to go and win the whole thing.
Toth said, “I feel like we had our own very distinct playing style that we knew worked and we knew that if we played that way we were just unstoppable and there was no team that was gonna be able to stop us.” The Blue Devils went on to play in their second state final in four years where they beat Eastern with a goal from Emilie Cadigan and an assist from Toth, 1-0 bringing home the Group IV State Title.
With five seniors finishing their careers at WHS, the team looks to find new leadership in the fall and continue the legacy the Blue Devils have built.
1 comment
Love the article title! Thanks for the coverage this year!!