On a brisk October night, parents and students filled the stands at Arthur L. Johnson High School as Westfield met Scotch-Plains Fanwood to battle it out for the Union County Championship.
One goal was enough to defeat SPF the first time in a 1-0 Blue Devils victory; however, this time, SPF came in aggressive, taking a 2-0 lead in the first half.
Head coach Eric Shaw said, “We have to be better [defensively] and not give any team opportunities from mistakes.”
Westfield had many chances in the first half to get those goals back but could not find the back of the net. After the game, senior Daniel DeSousa said “We switched off for a couple of moments in the beginning and it cost us the game.”
Westfield went into the second half frustrated, finding themselves trailing. “We changed our shape, we put a very attacking option out there because we had no other option,” said Shaw.
This paid off early in the second half as three minutes into the half senior co-captain Ethan Wade headed in a corner kick to put the Blue Devils on the board. “[The ball] was coming towards me so I had to go ahead with it,” Wade said, “But afterward I didn’t think anything of it. It’s 2-1.”
Tensions were high coming onto the field and did not cool down at any point in this game as the Blue Devils fought hard to try and finish the comeback.
SPF showed no mercy, trying to seal the game by putting in their third goal. They attacked and got by junior goalie Simon Gunzberg but senior Max Burrick came flying in to deflect the ball and keep the score at 2-1.
The final minutes of this game kept the Westfield spectators up on their feet and loud as Westfield was able to keep the ball on SPF’s side of midfield.
Wade, who had the first goal, sent a bicycle kick over his head to the goal but it was caught by the SPF goalie. “Late in the game, they’re putting 10 guys in the box, and a lot of people around in deep areas. So we had a kind of hope for those what-if opportunities,” said Shaw
After a final 3 minutes of relentless attack, Westfield was unable to tie it up and fell to SPF 2-1.
“There was a fire under us this time and next time is gonna be different,” said Wade.
Westfield will turn their focus to preparing for the state tournament. “Our goal is to change the banner in the locker room,” Shaw said, “We still have that opportunity to put the sectional title and the group title on there.”
Westfield will be back in action on October 30 vs Piscataway at 4 pm at Kehler.
