Upon arrival at Warinanco Sports Center, fans were greeted with foggy boards that would make the game difficult to watch. Fans wondered if it would be difficult for the players to see the puck and even play. Livingston and Westfield seemed to have conflicting opinions on this, as the Blue Devils steamrolled the Lancers, 8-0.
From the moment the puck dropped, the Blue Devils were dominant. Seconds into the game, Westfield had already fired multiple shots at the goalie, and just 1:10 into the game, Alex Ebel gave the Blue Devils the 1-0 lead. While the score remained 1-0 for the majority of the first period, it was clear that Westfield was dominating. The lead would later extend right before the period ended, with the help of a beautiful slapshot from Michael Wilson with just 18.4 seconds left. With the score being 2-0 after one period, and the game already feeling like a blowout, many Livingston fans already accepted their fate and exited the building.
“Everything went right for us tonight,” said head coach Joe Bertucci with a smile on his face. “We worked really hard and talked about outworking the other team and we did that. Once we got a couple early goals, everything started sort of clicking.”
The early goals clearly helped the Blue Devil offense throughout the entirety of the game. In the second period, the onslaught began. Simon Thompson would be the first of four goalscorers in the period, as he scored his first varsity goal with 8:01 remaining in the period. On his first varsity goal, Thompson said, “It feels great. It was a long time in the making. I’ve been waiting for this for three or four years so it was really just an awesome feeling.”
Kris Richards would of course add his name to the score sheet in the second period, just two minutes after Thompson’s goal. Richards’ goal was detrimental to Livingston because, after the goal, the Lancers put in their backup goalie, almost admitting defeat. However, the Westfield offense had just begun, and Livingston fans would soon face more agony. Just 50 seconds later, Tortorella received the puck from an outstanding tape-to-tape pass from Jonathan Gorski, and the captain Tortorella would net one himself, increasing the lead to 5-0. Gorski would finish the night with three assists.
If the period was not exciting enough, Andrew Lisnock put the icing on the cake. Lisnock received the puck at the midline and deked his way through two defenders before burying a backhanded goal, giving him his first varsity goal. On the goal, Lisnock said, “It is a great feeling. I have been waiting for this moment for my entire life, and for it to actually happen just feels amazing.”
The third period was much of the same for the Blue Devils. They continued to beat the lifeless Lancer squad. Richards netted another goal in the period thanks to an outstanding wrist shot, and assistant captain Zach Park scored from just inside the blue line on the Westfield power play.
With the win, the Blue Devils moved to 6-1-1, and will face West Essex on Friday. On the upcoming road ahead, with counties and league games on the horizon, coach Bertucci said, “We definitely have and are trying to build some confidence and momentum as we move forward to our next level, when the competition and importance of games starts to become more difficult.”
After Friday’s game against West Essex, the Blue Devils will have another opportunity to face Livingston. However, the next time around, Bertucci expects the Lancers to put up more of a fight since they are still a good team with a very good first line.
