A crowd of blue and black divided the stands at Scotch Plains-Fanwood’s Shimme Wexler Field as top-10 foes clashed once again. Westfield was hungry for revenge after it suffered a heartbreaking 1-0 loss to SPF at Red Bull Arena on Sept. 22.
Westfield came out strong with immediate offensive aggression. After constant pressure on the Raiders’ unprepared goalie, junior Zach Preucil snuck in a beautiful goal off an exquisite pass from senior Ryan Bertsch only five minutes into the game.
Preucil credited Bertsch for the great pass through the Raiders’ “flat line in the back… that created the third man run.”
With the Blue Devils up 1-0 early on, the energy was immaculate on the Blue Devil side. Each sideline tensed up after questionable foul calls from the referee against both teams. Harsh and unrepeatable words were exchanged by players and coaches.
Senior co-captain Noah Fisher commanded the defense to counter several Raider opportunities. “We didn’t have a different game plan going in or anything because last game we played them we gave up an own goal and one or two more shots,” Fisher said. “They were actually better at offense this time and the refs didn’t help either with horrific calls giving them set pieces and stuff which hurt.”
As the first half moved along, Westfield was dealt the short hand of the stick with various injuries that set the team back. The Raiders were unable to take advantage of any first-half opportunities as Blue Devil senior goalkeeper Michael Liebermann came up with numerous saves.
Despite a few close attempts by the Raiders, including a missile off the left foot of senior midfielder Dylan Fei, Liebermann was once again able to deny the Raiders. Westfield maintained its 1-0 lead going into the break.
The Raiders were out for blood as soon as the second half began. Unfair hits and brutal shoulder-to-shoulder contact were taken by the Blue Devils. As expected, every fan was gifted with yet another physical, gut-wrenching clash between the Raiders and the Blue Devils.
A few Raider shots put the Blue Devil defense on edge, including a bicycle kick that hit the top of the crossbar. However, Westfield recovered and cleared the ball deep into Raider territory.
With only 15 minutes left in the game, the intensity increased. The Blue Devils committed back-to-back fouls, presenting SPF with incredible opportunities. With Westfield playing brick-wall defense and Liebermann making two game-saving saves with only seconds left in regulation, Westfield secured a huge 1-0 victory.
“We started off strong and the intensity we brought in the first 20 minutes was much better than it was at Red Bulls,” said Preucil.
The Blue Devils will next take on Cranford, whom they have beaten twice already, on Wednesday at Gary Kehler Stadium in the Union County Tournament quarterfinals.
