Westfield is always one for a comeback story.
We have seen it time and time again — Westfield digs themselves into a hole and spend the rest of the game trying to prevent themselves from being buried alive. Scotch Plains, Seton Hall Prep and even yesterday against New Providence, in the semifinals of the Union County Tournament, Westfield dug themselves into a three-goal hole in the first quarter where they were forced to find their way out.
“We came out slow, we ended slow,” said head coach William Werthimer. “We sort of had the middle of the sandwich, that was pretty good. The bread wasn’t too good today,” he said.
Senior captain and defender Jack Paris agreed: “We came out really flat. It’s another game where we underestimated a team that is very well coached. They have some really good players.”
Westfield knocked New Providence’s lead in the second quarter to one with key goals from juniors Garrett Ferguson and Christian Gilford. Down one, senior captain Danny McGann shot a bounce shot from far out. The shot bounced from post to post and ultimately outside the goal, junior Billy Gerne picked up the ground ball and whipped a behind-the-back shot for a score and the tie. A few minutes later, Gerne passed to Christian Gilford on the crease for a quick shot and goal for Westfields lead, 7-6.
In the sport of lacrosse, many people believe that if you win the third quarter, you win the game. And that’s just the case for Westfield. The Blue Devils broke away from New Providence by gaining a four-point lead with dynamic goals from senior captain Cody Lam, junior Colin Coyle and Ferguson. However, in the fourth quarter, New Providence began to shorten Westfield’s lead. They began to win the faceoff, they began to beat the defense, they began to comeback. Head coach William Werthimer said, “We started looking forward to the beginning of the county finals and kind of overlooked this team, which is what we [told] them not to do. I think we were stuck with a six or seven-goal lead, and they were satisfied instead of actually just putting their opponent’s away, so they were able to come back.”
Despite the Pioneers’ attempts, Westfield was able to maintain the lead, winning the game 13-10. Westfield will advance to the Union County championship on Saturday, playing Summit at 7 p.m. at Arthur L. Johnson High School.
This is a historic matchup for Westfield. For the past few years, Summit has come up victorious, and Westfield is ready for a new result.
“[Our performance today] won’t cut it on Saturday,” said McGann. “We’ll be hungry, and we won’t ever underestimate another opponent again.”
