22-1.
Westfield showed no mercy. Why would they? It’s no longer the regular season. Westfield is officially in the North 2, Group 4 sectional tournament: all games are do-or-die.
“We knew coming into the game that it was a team we should beat,” said senior captain Jack Paris. “To get to big teams like Bridgewater and Ridgewood, we have to beat teams like this. We focused on our plays, what we had to do, no matter what opponent we had in front of us.”
Piling on goal after goal in the first half, Westfield went into their ten-minute half time with a demoralizing 17-0 lead. Even against a weaker defense, Westfield did not take every shot. They ran each play to perfection using this game as fuel. Goals came from all parts of Westfield’s lineup, whether it was a starting offensive man to a second-string defender.
“It shows we have depth on offense. If someone ever goes down or if someones not playing well, we still have extra guys to go in,” said sophomore Ben Seward.
While this game was not a challenge for the Blue Devils, head coach William Werthimer has a plan to keep his team motivated rolling into the second round of states. Instead of taking a day off, they will stay locked in on their goal of being state champions. “We come first thing in the morning for practice, and we start from there. Coach A does a great job with their mindset, so they are going to have a half hour of Coach A time and a half hour of stick skills, and just build from there.”
Having a more laid back game allowed for new players to see action on the field. This not only helps Westfield work on execution but allows coach Werthimer to see various players in new roles and potentially add players on the field in later rounds. “It’s just a good game, we have a very rough schedule. And we were able to get a lot of guys in and get some playing time and sort of build for the states. We see some guys that we might not have seen in these types of games and see how they execute.”
Looking to the quarterfinal round, Westfield will be facing Hillsborough. They hope to keep their championship hopes alive using their strong offensive precision and lockdown defense in what is sure to be a much tougher matchup.
Westfield will take on Hillsborough on Thursday at 3:00 p.m. hosted at Gary Kehler Stadium. With such a commanding first round performance, the Blue Devils’ season is hopefully far from over.
