Two Broken Sticks and 17 Broken Hillsborough Hearts

People travel thousands of miles to watch shows live and in person, but luckily for Westfield hockey fans, they only have to travel a little less than six miles to watch the Kristopher Richards show. 

Richards, a sophomore defenseman for the Blue Devils, made his first appearance count, tallying two points on the night, with a goal and an assist in his debut. Richards, who previously attended a boarding school in Lake Placid, showed everyone watching how lucky they were to have him join the team. 

Westfield opened the season with a bang, winning, 9-2, against 19th-ranked Hillsborough. 

The game started off fast, and fans knew that it was bound to be a barnburner. Alex Ebel brought the puck down the ice on a counterattack, and Aidan Wilson finished the play off in style with a sweet finish. 

Hillsborough took that goal as a wake-up call. The Raiders took advantage of a poor clearance attempt from Westfield and tied the game up just four minutes after Westfield scored.  

The goals had just begun as senior Daniel Duffy scored thirty seconds after Hillsborough, giving the lead back to the Blue Devils. Richards and his slick dangles extended the lead to 3-1 after one period. 

Andrew Raber, junior goalie for Westfield, stood on his head in the first period, saving multiple shots from point blank range. He along with the defense remained consistent all game, only allowing two goals. 

The Blue Devils started off the second period with a goal by Ebel that was called back because he was in the crease. But, seconds later, senior Jonathan Gorski pelted the puck into the back of the net, increasing the lead for Westfield. 

The Raiders would not quit, however. Defense turned to offense, and the Raiders had possession in the Blue Devil zone. The Raider player wound up and belted a shot from just inside the blue line, hitting a Westfield player before ultimately sneaking in the net, making the lead just two for the Blue Devils.

Michael Wilson and Ebel had enough of their little brother sticking around and took matters into their own hands. Wilson would score a goal that was assisted by Ebel giving Westfield the 5-2 lead at the end of the second period. The lead would only grow from there. 

In the second period, the game became a much more physical contest. “Unlike last year’s team which scored a lot of fancier goals, this year’s team is grittier. It’s gonna be a lot of garbage goals,” said freshman Andrew Lisnock.

And gritty is the perfect word to encapsulate the Blue Devils’ performance. The Blue Devils played with a new physicality that they did not play with last year. That started with Richards laying a few early body checks, all the way through junior Michael Marshall, who had kids questioning if hockey was the right sport for them as they hit the ground. 

The Blue Devils came out in the third period a little sluggish, but ended it with a desire for pure domination. Within the last six minutes of the third period, Westfield increased its lead from 5-2 to 9-2 with goals from seniors Kevin Halleran and Connor Kotiga, junior Marshall and sophomore Jackson Chicola. 

“We came out firing with a great weekend in Boston and I think it carried over into today,” Zach Park, co-captain, said. He also added, “The weekend helped with a lot of chemistry.” This chemistry was on full display, with the Blue Devils having eight different goalscorers. Not to mention that all four lines were included in the scoresheet.

With their performance tonight, Westfield set itself up strongly for the rest of the season that is only going to get harder. “It was a good start, but it’s just the start. We have to understand that. We got really quality opponents coming up so we have to be ready to focus on the next one,” coach Joe Bertucci said.