It slipped through their worn-out fingers like water. A game that once looked like a heroic victory now was laced with pain. The Blue Devils slowly trotted off the field, past the celebrating Northern Highlands players who were embracing their teammates with excitement.
Westfield suffered a devastating 8-7 loss to Northern Highlands at Gary Kehler Stadium on Tuesday. However, the Blue Devils didn’t go down without a fight as this matchup had its trade of blows.
The first half was filled with excitement. The Highlanders came out stronger than ever, zipping a goal within the first few minutes. Freshman Gillian Cohen refused to allow such a poor start and tagged in her own goal to equalize the score.
As the first half progressed, the Blue Devils started to heat up and their offensive movement became unstoppable. This allowed for a beautiful goal to put Westfield up 2-1. Like with any surge of momentum, then came a downfall. The Highlanders set up their offensive quickly, moving the ball around before passing the ball to a player cutting across the crease for a routine goal. 2-2.
A tied score for these fearless Blue Devils means go time. After some strong words of leadership that could be heard echoing throughout the stadium from head coach Abby Cohen, Westfield pressed forward. This caused the Highlander defense to panic and foul, which the Blue Devils quickly converted into a goal.
Westfield wasn’t finished just yet. Junior Sofia Della Rocco took the offense into her own hands with only 11 minutes to go in the first half. After faking her defenders, she easily placed the ball in the back of the net. 4-2.
Things were looking good for the Blue Devils. Despite Northern Highlands fighting back with another goal of its own, freshman Alice Manzo shot down this surge with a fast-break goal.
With Westfield up 5-3 at halftime, the game seemed completely in Blue Devil control. However, the second half told a different story.
Almost immediately, Westfield’s Lily Dickerson scored. Cheers filled the stadium as the gates of victory were wide open. This would be the last time any Blue Devil fan would smile.
“In the second half we started to cut more to create some confusion and disorganization for the backer’s slides,” said Dickerson. “This movement from my teammates ultimately created enough chaos in their defense to open up a wide open lane for my cut that resulted in a goal.”
Like a barrage of missiles, the Highlanders blew through the Westfield defense. When the Blue Devils finally had the chance to recover, the score was tied up. 6-6.
Using her last bit of strength, Della Rocco surged ahead, carrying the ball in her stick through the angered Highlanders. Goal.
An uneasy round of cheering crept up from the Westfield section. A dark doom would quickly follow. With only nine minutes to go in the second half, the Highlanders dug in deep, cutting through Westfield’s defense and taking an 8-7 lead.
The Blue Devils would never recover. Westfield frantically threw the ball around and took wild shots until the clock ticked to zero. 8-7, Northern Highlands.
“They gained momentum after scoring, from there we made mistakes,” said senior Ella McLane. “The turnovers killed us during the game, we were unable to transition up the field or score on the offensive end.”
It was a devastating loss, especially since Westfield was looking to secure a confidence-boosting victory before its big matchup against Kent Place.
Even though Westfield wasn’t able to resurface, the Blue Devils still managed to leave a few scars on the Northern Highlands team. University of Florida commit Della Rocco led the Blue Devils with three goals, followed by Cohen with two goals and Dickerson and Manzo scoring one each.
“Communication and teamwork will be a huge factor in Thursday’s game,” McLane said. “We need to clean up silly mistakes, because silly mistakes cost us games, as we also need to start working together all across the board and getting up from the start.”
The Blue Devils hope to get back on track when they play away against Kent Place on Thursday.
