Westfield stomped into its old graveyard Tuesday and promptly razed it. Transformed it. Cracked open last season’s tomb, grabbed the rotting corpse within, tossed it away, filled the cavity.
Westfield dumped 6 straight goals on Hunterdon Central, then conceded 1, then poured in 7 straight. All on the same Stewart Field where Hunterdon Central, last season, ousted the Blue Devils from the North, Group 4 sectional tournament in the semifinals.
On Tuesday, though, No. 12 Westfield (8-5, 4-2 NJILL Fitch-Pitt) bullied Hunterdon Central (8-7, 1-3 Skyland Delaware), battering the Red Devils in the first half and sailing to a 16-2 victory.
Westfield drove a traffic-clogged 35 miles to Hunterdon Central, its yellow bus towing some fetid imaginary luggage: the old ghost of last year’s loss and the fresh sting of back-to-back losses to Summit (in the Union County Tournament final) and Pingry (for the Bristol Cup). The Blue Devils swiftly jettisoned all of it.
“We did a lot of team-building between Pingry and now, did a lot of stuff together, working on communication and teamwork,” said William Wertheimer, Westfield’s head coach. “I think that really helped out today.”
At some point in the first half, the gulf between the two teams reached unbridgeable depth, too deep and too wide. It’s tough, though, to determine exactly when. Was it when Westfield ended the first quarter leading 6-0? Or when the Blue Devils entered halftime with a 12-1 lead?
Somewhere in between, perhaps.
The Blue Devil offense, bigger and quicker and more skilled, churned through the Red Devil defense. Hunterdon Central initially deployed a zone. Westfield sliced it up. The Red Devils switched to a man. Westfield diced it up.
Cody Lam led Westfield in scoring with 5 goals. Ryan Waldman, Dylan Wragg and John McDonald each scored 2. Five others scored 1, including Alex Tilyou and Luke Mokrzycki.
“We hit singles, did the right thing, did the easy thing,” said Anthony Buoscio, who scored once. “Tried not to be the hero, but give it off to our teammates and trust each other.”
Danny Hazard dominated the faceoffs, supplying the humming offense with repeated opportunities. Sickness, Wertheimer said, forced Hunterdon Central’s usual faceoff man to miss the game.
Overall, though, this was Westfield restored to where it hoped to be.
The Blue Devils creaked to slow starts against Summit and Pingry. They blasted Hunterdon Central from the first whistle.
They seemed a step slow defensively against Summit and Pingry. They smothered Hunterdon Central. Hounded the Red Devils into coughing up the ball.
“The coaches realized we were better than we were playing,” Buoscio said. “So we did a lot of team bonding, just kind of focused on what we have to do better. And what we’re doing right, amplify it.”
Wertheimer criticized shot selection and missed opportunities after the Pingry defeat. He spoke Tuesday of lethal shooting, especially early, that buried Hunterdon Central. The Red Devils did, at the other end, fire some shots on goal. But Quinn Wojcik repelled nearly all of them, making 6 saves.
The Hunterdon Central parents, toting seldom-used cowbells, cheered for just about anything positive. Which meant they rarely cheered.
Few Westfielders trekked to Hunterdon Central on Tuesday. Plenty, though, will trek to Delbarton on Thursday to watch Westfield grapple with the No. 2 Green Wave.
Queried about the game, Wertheimer responded with a noncommittal “we’ll see,” which he followed with typical talk about watching film and preparing.
Westfield, reason suggests, possesses nothing but a flicker of hope against Delbarton. The Green Wave recently lost to Seton Hall Prep in overtime. Westfield lost to Seton Hall Prep by 10 goals. Quite a disparity.
But the Westfield of Tuesday was a different Westfield. Rejuvenated. Refocused. Relaxed.
Reborn.
