After a vigorous schedule against tough opponents this past week, Westfield was able to put Hunterdon Central away with a very comfortable and dominating win, earning their first shutout since early in the 2024 season. The Blue Devils, after scoring 13 goals by halftime, were able to put in their secondary goalkeeper, junior Thomas Holland, who was able to keep the clean sheet alive with a few clutch saves in the second half. Many alternates and junior varsity players were able to step onto the field and clock in their first varsity minutes.
Head coach William Wertheimer said, “It’s a Group 4 game, so no matter what, this helps us out with state rankings. Hunterdon Central may not have shown it on the field today, but they’re a great team, very well coached. So, this just sort of helps us prepare for states. It was a good victory.”
Starting strong with six goals in the first six minutes of the game, the Blue Devils came out blazing right off the initial buzzer. Senior Garrett Ferguson found himself burying six goals in total against the Red Devils, five of them being in the first half. Senior quad-captain Colin Coyle was also able to find the back of the net four times, three of which were in the first half.
Besides these two dominating senior goalscorers, Westfield trickled in carefully placed shots and powerful rips from many other contributing players throughout the game. Some goal scorers ended up being underclassmen from the junior varsity squad, who kept the Blue Devils’ momentum rolling as they stepped onto the field in the third and fourth quarters. Senior goalkeeper and quad-captain Corey Gilford said, ”The defense played amazing today. The offense did a great job of possessing the ball and placing their shots. It was a team win 100 percent.”
Finishing the game strong with a 17-point lead, this game served the Blue Devils a boost of confidence that was needed after a tough week. Westfield was unhappy with how they shot earlier in the week against a grueling opponent, Seton Hall Prep, so “[they] added a lot more shooting to our warm-up and shot way better in practice this past week,” said Coyle.
The Blue Devils have a long week of practices ahead of them before they face their typical rivals, Scotch Plains-Fanwood, on Saturday. Leading up to this game, Wertheimer said, “The coaching staff scouted SPF on Saturday, so we will put a few minor things into our practices this week to prepare.”
Westfield will be in action on Saturday, April 19, away against Scotch-Plains Fanwood at 1 pm.
