They relaxed on the field at halftime, sitting and joking and eating ice pops in the beaming afternoon sunlight. Then Westfield resumed its rollicking walloping of West Essex.
When the onslaught finally abated, the scoreboard spelled out a predictably lopsided story. No. 9 Westfield (3-2, 2-1 NJILL Fitch-Pitt) had routed West Essex (4-4, 1-3 NJILL Fitch-Pitt), 16-3, recovering from last weekend’s four-overtime loss to No. 8 Ridgewood and swiveling attention to Saturday’s showdown with No. 2 Seton Hall Prep.
Things turned jovial by the end on Thursday, delighted yells issuing from the stands as the list of Westfield scorers stretched longer. The Blue Devils, perhaps fueled by those tasty electrolyte ice pops, buried the Knights in the second half, 9-0.
“The communication was way better in the second half,” said Trey Brown, who barked often at his teammates and pinpointed communication as an area of improvement for his defense.
But despite West Essex’s paucity of scoring opportunities, Brown’s summary of the defensive performance went like this: “We did an all right job.”
All right, then.
Absent from the offense Thursday was Ryan Waldman, the explosive attacker coping with an ankle injury. Waldman sustained the injury nearly two weeks ago, during a comfortable win over Columbia. He has played intermittently since, and after his 3-goal outing Saturday against Ridgewood has rested. Waldman is cleared, though, for this Saturday.
“With Ryan out, it’s tough,” said head coach William Wertheimer, “because he’s such a key part of the offense as a leader, as a captain, and as the attack sort-of point guard.”
In Waldman’s stead rose Cody Lam, the second edge of Westfield’s devastating offensive sword. Lam scored four goals, raising his season total to 13. He deflected praise, though, noting how his teammates created space for him to dodge and pass.
“Everyone was moving,” Lam said. “Everyone was doing the plays correctly.”
Lam scored his fourth goal mere minutes into the third quarter. Then he ceded the floor to his teammates, who picked up the slack without a hitch. Goal. Goal. Goal again. Goal again. Goal, goal, goal.
Game.
Colin Coyle matched Lam with 4 goals, Dylan Wragg pitched in with 3, Billy Gerne added 2, and Anthony Buoscio, John McDonald and Patrick Ryan each scored 1. McDonald, who shifted positions slightly to account for Waldman’s absence, accumulated 5 assists.
The list of scorers, though, nearly contained another name. Another surprising name. The name of a goalie.
In the second quarter, ball in his stick, Quinn Wojcik went for a jaunt. He voyaged out of the defensive area, over the halfway line, toward the West Essex goal. He eventually dumped the ball off to a teammate, but his sojourn on offense lasted a moment longer before he loped home.
A rogue mission? Nope. A designed play, clarified a laughing Wertheimer.
“We actually have a clear,” he said, “and we do have an option in the clear where it’s Quinn to go. So he has to survey the field, notice it, and see when to go, and he has to keep his head up and look for the first open guy.”
Smiles spread across faces as Wojcik motored downfield. Those smiles remained on those faces as Westfield cruised through the game.
But smiles might possibly turn to frowns come Saturday. The Blue Devils will face their stiffest opposition yet, juggernaut Seton Hall Prep.
“It’s gonna be a tough game,” Wertheimer said.
“I think we can take these guys,” Brown said.
“I think we have a really good chance,” Lam said.
The Pirates are 8-0 and ranked No. 2 in the state. On Tuesday they beat No. 5 Rumson-Fair Haven, 10-5. On Thursday they beat No. 7 Summit, 8-4.
On Saturday they host Westfield.
Pack popcorn.
Written by Michael Liebermann
Live tweeting by Emily Weinstein
