Westfield, the No. 1 seed in the North 2, Group 4 sectional tournament, hosted Watchung Hills, the No. 16 seed, in the first round of the tournament. In the beginning of the game, it was hard to tell which seed was which. The Warriors came out strong and were not going to let Westfield end their season easily. Just over 17 minutes into the first half, Watchung Hills capitalized on a Westfield defensive mistake and scored the first goal of the game.
Despite Watchung Hills getting on the board first, Westfield did not back down. Throughout the entirety of the game, Westfield had most of the possession but had trouble converting in the final third. Toward the end of the first half, the Blue Devils manufactured many chances and kept possession in Watchung Hills’ half but put few serious shots on goal.
It also seemed as if Westfield got on the referee’s radar early in the game, giving up a few free kicks early in the game. As the game neared halftime, tensions between Westfield coaches and the refs were high, as he was making many calls in favor of the Warriors.
At halftime, Westfield was still down by one goal. The Blue Devils talked about the three key components they needed to secure a lead for the second half: “bouncing back, resilience, and staying calm,” said senior co-captain Michael Blake.
In the second half, the Blue Devils took those words to heart. Westfield scored less than three minutes after the kickoff. The goal came from senior Ian Schultz’s powerful cross to junior Emanuel Gayanilo, who headed it past the Watchung Hills goalkeeper. Gayanilo said “We needed to get back in the game and I wanted to be the player to push us to [get there].”
The Blue Devils didn’t stop there, and offensive opportunities kept coming during the second half. After multiple shots went wide of the goal, a successful chance finally came. Junior Zach Preucil found junior Benedict Nematadzira, who was ready to find the back of the net, putting Westfield up by one goal with just over 16 minutes left. “I saw the opportunity and knew I needed to get it,” Nematadzira said.
Being up by just one goal, the Blue Devils had to remain strong defensively. Although the Warriors had some close chances in the remaining minutes of the half, senior goalkeeper Michael Liebermann and the rest of the defense were able to get on the end of each of these shots.
During tournament time, each game could be a team’s last, and that is something Westfield used as motivation throughout the game. Head coach Eric Shaw said, “The boys realize that our back is against the wall and [any game] could be their last opportunity.”
Westfield will play ninth-seeded Edison at home on Monday in the sectional quarterfinals.
