With Ridgewood’s first goal just nine seconds into the game, Westfield knew from the start how tough this game would be. Though Ridgewood’s first shot was initially saved, the ball ended up on the ground, just outside the crease, where Ridgewood was able to push the ball into the net to score the first goal of the game. For the next few minutes, Ridgewood seemed to have control of the game, playing mostly offensively. To even out the score, junior Colin Coyle scored Westfield’s first point. However, the score did not remain tied for long as Ridegwood answered back with another goal just 20 seconds later.
In an impressive dive towards the goal, junior Billy Gerne was able to shoot the ball in the air, past the goalie and into the net. With the game tied yet again, the game started to get intense. In an offensive play by Ridgewood, junior goalie Corey Gilford was carded, requiring the Blue Devils to play senior TJ Pitta instead. Ridgewood remained with the ball, and in an instant, they hit a quick shot towards the net. In an impressive save, Pitta prevented the ball from going in, erupting the entire team and stadium into cheers. Building off the energy from the crowd, junior Garrett Ferguson scored for Westfield with just 32 seconds left in the quarter, putting them up, 3-2.
Only up by one point going into the second quarter, the Blue Devils knew they had to step it up. Though their defense held strong for a while, Ridgewood slipped through and was able to tie up the score. Driving Westfield even more, senior captain Cody Lam and Ferguson put up two more goals. While it seemed as though the half would end in the current 5-3 score held by Westfield, Ridegwood was able to score again with just 45 seconds left in the half.
At the end of the game, the outcome was decided by the Blue Devils performance in the third quarter. “We executed our game plan for three quarters. The first, second and fourth quarters were good, but in the third quarter we had some lulls in action and didn’t do what we were supposed to do, and didn’t execute and take advantage,” said head coach William Wertheimer. “There are alot of things we will do in practice, like first time ground balls, and a lot of basic stuff we are going to go over.”
Despite this loss, the Blue Devils are optimistic for the rest of the season. “I’m really proud of this team for coming back in the fourth quarter, we just couldn’t finish it out, but there’s a lot of things to learn from this. If we could replicate that first half then we would have won that game. We just can’t give up too early” said senior captain Jack Paris.
The Blue Devils will travel to Arthur L. Johnson on May 9 for the semifinal round of the Union County Tournament, looking to bounce back and put a county win under their belt.
