With just under two minutes left in the game, Cranford decided to pull their goalie in hopes to send the game into overtime. They thought the way to success was to take out their goalie for an extra player on the ice, hoping this extra player would score. A rookie mistake. In a clear from Cranford’s possession, senior Kolby Azzaretto skated up the side of the rink, only having to dodge one Cranford defender, as he made his way to the goal and scored on an empty net. Cranford’s rookie mistake led Westfield to score their fourth and final goal of the game, resulting in a win for the Blue Devils, 4-1.
Going into Monday’s game, tensions were high from both teams. This would be the third matchup of Westfield and Cranford of the season, the two previous won by Westfield. However, the Blue Devils did not want to let the past record affect their game play. “Whatever we did before, it means absolutely nothing,” said head coach Joe Bertucci. This game had more meaning than any game played by either team so far this season. The winner of the game would move on to play in the McInnis Cup finals.
According to senior goalie Andrew Raber, “The first period was closer than we expected.” Ending in a tie, 0-0, the team knew they had to pick it up in order to win this game. Raber also said, “We had a lot of really good opportunities, especially in the last three minutes of the first period.”
Both teams came into the second period looking to break the tie and that is just what they did. Westfield came out first with a wrist shot from sophomore Tyler Bergman, assisted from junior Jack Conrod. Cranford responded to Bergman’s shot with one of their own. The score was tied again, 1-1. Westfield dominated the second half to this period by keeping the puck in their possession and having multiple shots on goal. Their well executed plays and communication on the ice led to junior Aidan Wilson scoring a wrist shot into the middle of the goal. Wilson allowed Westfield to go into the third period with the lead, 2-1.
“We just have to know what our job is. And our job is to get better every period,” said senior captain Michael Wilson after coming into the third period with such a tight score. Wilson had thoughts on coming into the last period of the game knowing only one team could advance into the McInnis final round. “Cranford is a good team,” he said. “And they know how to stick around.” Michale and the team knew they had to hold their ground this final period to secure their win.
Shortly, the positive mentality and teamwork of the team showed itself in a goal from sophomore Andrew Lisnock two minutes into the period. “We were kind of in a hole, a 2-1 game, and I think it got everyone relaxed and we were able to sit back,” said Lisnock when reflecting on his goal. Wilson was right, Cranford did stick around having many good attempts trying to get past Raber, but Raber was able to prevent their various attempts and shut the Cougars out for the remainder of the period.
On Thursday, the team will go to the McInnis Cup final round for the third year in a row, hoping to bring home hardware. “You know, I don’t care who we play. I think we’re ready. We’re up for the challenge. One of our goals at the beginning of the year was to get a triple crown and we’re, that’s insight so hopefully we can get a big win,” said Wilson. The boys will face Summit, who they played last year in this same game and lost to, 7-2. Now, fans can only wait to see if Westfield will have their comeback or if Summit will take home the cup for the second year in a row.
