Amid celebrating the holidays over winter break, school spirit was still present as Westfield fans pressed their faces up anxiously against the glass as less than five minutes lingered in the third period in a 2-goal game. Posters and fatheads floated through the WHS student section as hopeful cheers echoed throughout the barn.
Westfield, in need of a miracle play in the clutch minutes, fired a shot toward the net that hit just right off the far post. Senior Joey Torterella was there for the poke in to bring Westfield within one with just over four minutes left in the game. However, it would not be enough in the end as Governor Livingston sank a goal into an empty net with 43 seconds left to hand the Blue Devils their first loss of the season, 5-3.
Despite the game being close a majority of the time, resulting in many nail-biting moments, a lot of the action was compiled in the first period, which ended with a score of 3-2, favoring the Highlanders. Governor Livingston was ready from the puck drop as it scored two goals within the first six minutes, one goal being off a power play and the other from a turnover resulting in a one-versus-one with senior goalkeeper Sam Schupak.
“It’s tough when you got a [2-0] hole to start the game and you’re battling back the entire game,” said head coach Joe Bertucci.
However, Westfield did not stay silent for long. Senior John McDonald gathered momentum for his team with a five-hole goal with just under eight minutes left in the period. Despite the shot being an intended pass, it found the back of the net and jump-started Westfield’s offense.
“I felt good after the goal because we started off slow and it was a little surge of momentum for us, as we scored another goal quickly after,” said McDonald
While the second period lacked any true offensive rhythm and goals for either side, there was no shortage of penalties and fights. After a close chance from Westfield’s offense that led Tortorella trying to poke in the puck around the Governor Livingston keeper from a rebound, shoving between the teams erupted, and fists were thrown. This was just one of the several incidents that took place on the ice.
“That’s the thing with penalties, it changes momentum, you don’t get your regular shifts and we have a history of taking a lot of penalties. It is starting to bite us in the butt,” said Bertucci.
Hope was not lost for Westfield as they had 15 minutes to tie up the game, however Governor Livingston extended the lead to 4-2 with an early goal in the third period. The Blue Devils were not able to recover and their record moved to 4-1-1.
Westfield has a chance to avenge its loss as it takes on Glen Rock on Thursday.
“We hate losing and we hate losing to our rivals, so it’s going to be pretty easy to get the boys back together and rally the troops for the next game tomorrow,” said McDonald.
