Despite a slow first half, Westfield established its unstoppable connection with a 7-0 win against Newark Academy. After junior Maren Restivo hit one in the cage early in the third quarter, the Blue Devils offense was awoken.
Westfield was able to build off of their smooth transitions and energetic movement upfield, which led them to find the cage several times in the second half. Defender and senior captain Abi Mokrzycki used her versatile abilities to break down the Newark Academy defense, leading the team with two goals. She said, “It’s a really cool experience to score as a defender because it’s not something that happens every game, so to get that opportunity is amazing.”
Mokrzycki was not the only one putting on a show on the offensive end as junior Kayla Reyes was on fire with both an assist and a goal in the third quarter. Reyes said, “The offensive end was really good at pushing up the field on the sidelines to cross the ball into the center.”
“I think that in the second half we were finally connecting on these give and go passes and the rebounds. The rebound is something we have been working on all week and it finally just connected,” said head coach Corinne Varhley.
Although the Blue Devils were able to find their fire in the second half; the first half was not their strongest performance. They ended the first half with just a 1-0 lead, Varhley said, “We don’t want a close game, especially at half, we want to make sure we have a buffer where one breakaway doesn’t tie the game up.”
The Blue Devils were able to be successful not only on offense, but also defense. This was due to their positive environment in the back of the field. Mokrzycki said, “We were supporting each other and not talking down to each other when someone made a mistake, that’s the key to winning a game.” This type of positive behavior from the Blue Devils not only comes during playing time, but also comes from discussions at half.
This sense of community the team has established allows them to pick themselves up and turn it around at the half. “During halftime, our coaches talked about both the negatives and positives of the [first] half and then our captains spoke. Then, we all have a communal discussion about what to do better and we go from there,” Reyes said.
After a big win, the future for the Blue Devils looks bright. Varhley said, “One of our goals is to win the division this year. We want to do well in the [county tournament] and in the state tournament as well.”
As the season continues, with their next game coming up away on Saturday against Summit, Mokrzycki said, “I would say we need to push and encourage each other further on the field and off the field.”
