With 33 seconds left in the third period, Westfield held on to a slim 4-3 lead over Cranford. Just moments before, Cranford’s star player, who had been responsible for all three of their goals, exited the game due to an injury. Immediately after, freshman Sarina Sherman had swerved around the Cougar’s defenders, scoring a clutch shot that increased the Blue Devils lead to 5-3. Sighs of relief prevailed throughout the rink, as Westfield parents, players and spectators knew that the Blue Devils, for the first time in program history, would be going to the Annis Cup final.
In their past performance against Cranford, Westfield demonstrated themselves to be the dominant team, winning 8-1 in their most recent match up. However, Cranford’s energy had changed drastically, as they took an early 1-0 lead over Westfield within the first minute of the game. Head coach Matt Gualtieri said, “We didn’t perform as well as we normally do against Cranford, but with the stakes being a little bit different, I think a lot of it was mental. We were more concerned about it being a playoff game and we played differently.”
It was almost as if the Blue Devils had been smacked across the face, as going into the game, “We kind of came in really cocky and thinking that we were going to win,” said sophomore Payton Monusky. “This quickly changed because they scored and came ahead of us.”
“The beginning was off to a slow start, but we needed to win this to make it to the Annis Cup finals,” said senior Emerson Wotanowski. “At the end of the first period we really picked it up.”
Despite Westfield’s unanticipated slow start, with six minutes left in the first period, the Blue Devils had tied the score up with a goal from Monusky. Minutes later, junior Shoshana Handwerker gave Westfield their first lead of the game on a shovel shot to wrap up the first period.
Even as Westfield had taken the lead, the Cougars refused to stand down. On a Cranford breakaway, in an attempt to prevent a score, Handwerker fouled a Cranford player and was sent to the penalty box. Shortly after, on the power play, Cranford tied up the game to 2-2.
Throughout the rest of the second period, the game remained tied 2-2.
At the beginning of the third period, Westfield’s momentum began to pick up. Just eight seconds into the period, sophomore Lauren Delaney quickly scored to give Westfield back the lead. Then, in the blink of an eye, Monusky scored to extend the Blue Devils lead to 4-2.
Cranford, remaining resilient, scored yet another goal in the third period to condense Westfield’s lead to 4-3. But even with the Cougars last minute efforts, the injury of their top player and Sherman’s goal solidified the Blue Devils victory.
On Tuesday, the Blue Devils look to win the Annis Cup for the first time ever at 4 p.m. at Codey Arena against Madison.
