Westfield rained down on Chatham on Saturday, literally and figuratively. The No. 10 ranked Blue Devils put on a goal-scoring clinic against the No. 18 Cougars, who failed to put up much of a fight in a saturated battle. Gary Kehler Stadium was flooded with puddles of water that pushed this highly anticipated game back from its original 1:30 p.m. start time.
The matchup was initially canceled, as there seemed to be no clear skies in sight, however “[Chatham] came to play,” said Westfield head coach William Wertheimer. “They contacted the refs and said they could get refs here by [3 p.m.], so we got the game in.”
Despite the extreme lengths the Cougars took to save this game from a cancellation, they showed a lack of energy and fight once they stepped onto the field. The Blue Devils came out blazing with a spark of energy that they have yet to serve consistently all season long and took home a 13-3 win. The delay made the Blue Devils hungry from the get-go as senior Danny Hazard set the tone each possession by dominating the faceoffs, winning 72 percent of them.
Westfield’s offense came out strong with junior Cody Lam finding the back of the net to put the Blue Devils up 1-0 within the first two minutes of the game. Less than one minute later, junior Michael Marshall intercepted a pass and carried it all the way down to Chatham’s goal before finding senior Dylan Wragg, who finished the play with a goal. Before Chatham knew it, Westfield went up 2-0. The energy from the Westfield players and fans after each goal was unmatched. Despite the sodden weather, the Westfield sideline stayed energetic with a mosh pit after each goal and entertaining celebrations.
Lam, junior Danny McGann and sophomore Colin Coyle each finished with 2 goals, while Wragg added 4 of his own. Senior John McDonald, sophomore Billy Gerne and senior Anthony Buoscio recorded 1 goal each. Wragg’s performance helped lift the team to victory, and his shifty moves gave him a direct line to goal.
“I dodged a bunch of times, and they just decided not to slide, so I took advantage of that,” said Wragg.
Not only could Chatam’s defense not keep up with Wragg, but on back-to-back plays in the second quarter Coyle found the back of the net and delivered just outside of the crease.
“It felt really good to get the momentum going for our team offensively,” said Coyle.
The offense was not the only part of the game for the Blue Devils, as the defense was able to keep Chatham to 3 goals, which only one other team, Seton Hall Prep, has been able to do all season. Chatham’s first 2 goals came in the first quarter, which ended 3-2, where it seemed this game would be a close one. However, the Cougars failed to score again until the final five minutes of the game, decreasing the margin to 10 and making the final score 13-3.
It was all around a good day for Westfield on both sides of the ball. “A lot of different guys put points on the board, [Hazard] did a great job on faceoffs and the defense communicated,” said Wertheimer. “It was great.”
Going into the game, Westfield knew what it had to do to come away with the win, which is exactly what the Blue Devils did. “The mindset was to be in control of the game, play our game and step on their throats,” said Wragg.
Westfield will look to use the same energy in the Union County Tournament next week, where they play either Scotch Plains-Fanwood (3-7) or Arthur L. Johnson (6-4) in the semifinals on Thursday at ALJ High School.
