On Saturday afternoon, Westfield, the No. 1 seed, advanced to the North, Group 4 sectional final after dominating the No. 5 seed, Montclair, in the semifinal round.
Senior Danny Hazard won the faceoff to start the game, putting Westfield in command right after the first whistle. The Blue Devils shut out Montclair until the last nine seconds of the quarter making the score 4-1. Hazard had to finish the way he started by scoring a buzzer-beater goal, ending the first quarter 5-1.
The Blue Devils were up 5-2 towards the middle of the second quarter. Less than a minute after Drew Pravlik’s first goal of the season, Ryan Waldman scored his second of the game, bringing the lead to 7-2. Montclair responded fast with a shot 20 seconds later, right to the back of the net. Waldman answered with another goal, leaving him with a hat trick. Westfield ended the half up 8-3, beginning its domination.
Though Montclair was the No. 5 seed and Westfield was the No. 1 seed, the Blue Devils did not expect the game to be a blowout. “We knew they grew a lot as a team and that number 77, one of their attackmen, was the biggest threat,” said junior defender Michael Marshall. Knowing Montclair’s strengths, Marshall knew the strategies Westfield had to put on the field: “We knew we had to slide fast and slide hard to them.”
Making their way into the second half, Westfield added another 3 goals to the scoreboard. Although Montclair managed to respond with 3 of its own, the Blue Devils still were seeing clear skies as they led 11-5.
In the fourth quarter, Waldman scored his final 2 goals of the game. Though Montclair had a small comeback, scoring 3 additional goals, it wasn’t enough to surpass the Blue Devils. Westfield’s Jonathan Boufarah and Danny McGann topped the score, ending the game 15-7.
Senior Anthony Buoscio feels confident going into the sectional final. “We have a lot of seniors contributing, so I feel good about the next game,” he said. Westfield is set to play Ridgewood in the sectional final on Tuesday at Gary Kehler Stadium at 3:30 p.m.
