Destiny twists, and destiny turns, and on this night it veered away from Westfield.
The scene twinkled with magic, as if some higher power was spinning another fairy tale with the Westfield girls soccer team at its center. The moon gleamed up in the sky, a distant shining orb, so bright it seemed capable of illuminating the field in case of a power failure.
It certainly seemed like a fairy tale when, with six minutes left in regulation, junior Ella Cadigan slotted home at the front post to equalize, 1-1. As Cadigan buried senior Emma Kelesoglu’s cross, the Westfield stands exploded with jubilant yells, and the sideline whipped into a frenzy.
Here it was. Just like always. Westfield, a team for which losing has become a foreign concept over a 43-game unbeaten run, flowing forward like water from a broken dam to seize this North 2, Group 4 sectional championship.
Except not this time.
The 1-1 deadlock headed to penalty kicks—that cruelest of arbiters—and top-seeded Watchung Hills vanquished undefeated and third-seeded Westfield, 3-2.
“You kind of saw on the PKs today, the girls’ legs were a little heavy, and they started to overthink some things,” head coach Alex Schmidt said. “And, yeah, it’s hard. It’s hard to lose on PKs.”
It was the third time this season Westfield had faced penalty kicks. The first came in the Union County Tournament final, a triumph over Scotch Plains-Fanwood. The second came in the sectional semifinals, a triumph over Hunterdon Central. Completing the hat-trick of penalty-kick victories seemed a tall order, and Watchung Hills’ ability to study Westfield’s previous penalties compounded the difficulty.
Still, the Blue Devils fought bitterly. Westfield trailed after missing its second penalty, but up stepped senior goalkeeper Sutton Factor, the hero of the previous two penalty shootouts. She took one mighty step to her left and slapped two powerful palms to a blasted shot to maintain Westfield’s hope.
But Warriors goalkeeper Isabella DeGiovanni made two big saves, and the clock struck midnight on Westfield’s incredible run of dominance.
“Look at these seniors,” Schmidt said. “They haven’t lost a game in two years. It’s hard. It’s really hard to do, to be game in and game out, to ask different things from different opponents. You go with different lineups, and you always have to step up and find a way. You thought maybe here, there was a little bit of magic left.”
Watchung Hills seized the lead five minutes in, a wide-open forward tapping in the ball at the back post. It was the first time Westfield had conceded a goal since Sept. 30, a remarkable run of defensive dominance.
“We’re just not used to going down early,” Schmidt said. Twirling his red EXPO marker, Schmidt scribbled instructions on his green dry-erase board. Westfield pushed, and pushed, and pushed, but it was like a boxer trying to punch through concrete: Watchung Hills just wouldn’t budge.
There were moments. Senior Cat Angel went down in the box in the first half and furiously appealed for a penalty. Whistles and screams issued from the Westfield stands, but the referee only waved his arms disdainfully.
As Westfield pushed for the equalizer on one end, Factor stood sturdy on the other. In the first half, she planted herself between the goal and a charging Watchung Hills attacker, and then nailed her angles to deny the rebound. Early in the second half, she dove at full stretch to push a shot wide, and then reached to the sky to snag the ensuing corner. With two minutes remaining in the game, after the Westfield goal, she remained composed to make a crucial free-kick save as chaos reigned around her.
The Blue Devils strung together nice sequences, but the scoring opportunities never crystallized—not until the goal, of course.
“Another late goal for us,” Schmidt said, “and I give these girls a lot of credit.”
The goal took the game to overtime, and here came the tension. The type of tension that seizes you, that grips and wrings you, that grasps your stomach and twists it into knots.
Westfield defended, hearts in mouths. Factor tipped a shot over the crossbar, freshman Callie Schmidt cleared a corner off the line, and the two overtimes passed otherwise without incident.
Penalties. Heartbreak. The end.
“These girls are fighters,” Schmidt said. He smiled sadly as he spoke postgame, his players sobbing in the background. It was the smile of a man with perspective. Sad about the loss, but grateful for the historic and magical journey.
