With less than eight minutes left in the first quarter, junior Alice Manzo effortlessly sprinted through the defense and netted her second goal of the game, giving the Blue Devils a 2-1 lead over Morris Knolls. Dominant plays such as these helped Westfield soar to an 11-6 win.
The Blue Devils were able to light up the scoreboard throughout the entire game. On top of Manzo’s two goals and one assist, junior Gillian Cohen found the back of the net four times and senior Abi Mokrzycki scored three of her own. This helped give Westfield a steady lead and take the pressure off the defense. Manzo said, “When you score early in the game it shows that you want to come out and win and it brings intensity up on the sidelines and on the field.”
It was clear that Westfield’s offensive success stemmed from their preparation and meticulous plays to find the weak spots in the Morris Knolls defense. Head coach Katie DaSilva said, “We watched a lot of film on their defense. We knew they had three main defenders, so we knew where their weak points were and who we should attack.”
Not only did the Westfield offense have a spectacular performance, but the defensive side of the ball shut down Morris Knolls biggest scorers. Senior co-captain Erin Hazard said, “They have some really good players on their offense and their midfields. I think we shut them down really well by keeping them to only six goals. They have a lot of girls that can shoot from far out and we did a great job preventing that.”
With the win today, the Blue Devils advanced to 13-3 on the season and clinched 1st place in the Stars and Stripes Blue division.
The Blue Devils look to keep their momentum going as they face Kent Place on May 20 at 4pm, away at Kent Place. Last year, Westfield fell to Kent Place 14-1 in a tough matchup. This season, Kent Place has an 11-6 record and is on a two-game winning streak heading into Tuesday’s game.
Dasilva said, “Last year when we played them it was our senior day game and it was not close. I think the girls that were here last year are using that as our motivation, but we will stick to our game plan just like every other game and it’s been working for us.”
