As the third period started, Westfield found themselves in an all too familiar position. A 2-0 lead was nothing new for the Blue Devils, but keeping that lead was uncommon. They knew that if they wanted to win, they had to score a third goal. Senior Kolby Azzaretto stepped up to the challenge. On a deflection from the Governor Livingston goalie, Azzaretto placed the puck into the back of the net, giving the Blue Devils the 3-0 lead they had been working towards. The boys went on to beat Governor Livingston 4-0.
“It was a great team win,” said senior Beckett Calder. “I think we played amazing.”
The performance was arguably the best the Blue Devils had all season. With goals from four different players and a shutout by senior goalie Andrew Raber, it was clear that Westfield had a game plan in place.
Senior captain Alex Ebel said, “That was the best game I think we played all year. We had a game plan and we absolutely executed it to a tee.”
The game plan was seemingly simple. Their aim was to halt the Governor Livingston offense, as “they like to play a run and gun style where they like to get the puck off the ice very quickly, and they’re trying to get guys behind our defense. We were very mindful of that,” said head coach Joseph Bertucci. “We made sure we always had a defender back, and we matched certain defenders up against their top player, and our defenders are better than their top players so we shut them down.”
On the offensive side, the Blue Devils were equally prepared. Late into the first period, Ebel scored the game’s first goal. To follow, within the first two minutes of the second period, Calder scored a clean shot in the top left corner of the net. An entire period later, Azzaretto contributed to the score with his goal, quickly followed by the final goal of the game scored by junior Jackson Chicola.
Ebel was awarded with the Most Valuable Player award for the 2024 Union County Tournament.
The boys had matched up against Governor Livingston twice this season before the championship game. In the first game, Westfield won over Governor Livingston 3-2, however in the second game, Governor Livingston defeated Westfield 5-2.
Going into the game, “nj.com said we were going to lose 4-3,” said Raber. Despite this prediction, the boys came out on top, conceding no goals.
Last year, the Blue Devils did not make it past the semi-final round of the Union County Tournament. Two years ago, the boys conquered Governor Livingston in the championship game, and this year, history repeated itself.
Although the regular season has more games to be played, with this victory on their backs, the boys could not be entering the state tournament in a better position.
The Blue Devils will face off against Cranford on Monday at Warinanco Park at 6:40 p.m. for one of their final regular season games.
