Westfield’s offense was firing on all cylinders throughout the Wednesday matchup against Montclair despite a slow start by the Blue Devils. Eight different Blue Devils finished with goals on the day, adding up to an impressive 15 in total. Cornell commit Ryan Waldman and Princeton commit Cody Lam each finished with four goals apiece in Westfield’s 15-7 win.
Montclair came out hot, looking to take advantage of Westfield after the Blue Devil bus broke down on the side of the Garden State Parkway, pushing game time back almost an hour. Montclair fired the first punch as it scored the first goal of the game just over a minute after the faceoff. However, the score went back and forth until senior co-captain Ryan Waldman put Westfield in the lead, 3–2, for the first time in the game with just under four minutes left in the first quarter. “It was tough to come off a short warmup and do what they do,” said head coach William Wertheimer.
Once Westfield went up, Montclair would not see the lead again and Westfield’s lead would continue to increase until late in the third quarter. The Blue Devils went on a 12-goal streak until Montclair was able to find the back of the net. With just five seconds left in the quarter, senior John McDonald picked up a rebound and scored, putting Westfield back up by 11.
It seemed that the Mounties were giving up until the fourth quarter, where they scored four goals, however it would not be enough to put them on top in the end.
Westfield found a lot of success on top of the crease with multiple goals coming from that area. “We tried to move their defense,” said Waldman. “We got guys in the crease and shot well on the goalie.”
It was difficult for the Mounties to get into a groove all day as Lafayette commit Danny Hazard won every single one of his faceoffs on the day and jumpstarted Westfield’s offense in every aspect as he gave momentum to the Blue Devils’ offense at each restart.
Senior Dylan Wragg also added two goals, amongst many other single-goal scorers. However, Westfield was not only putting the ball in the back of the net but sharing the ball as well. On two different occasions Waldman and Wragg connected to convert for a goal. In the first quarter Waldman found Wragg cutting down the middle of the field which gave Westfield the first lead of the game. Shortly after in the second quarter, Wragg found Waldman, this time right on top of the crease, who simply turned and scored. Waldman finished with an impressive three assists on the day.
Westfield had strong defensive moments throughout the game as well, starting with senior goalkeeper Quinn Wojcik, who finished with 12 saves on the day, some being at point-blank range. “If you can’t communicate, you can’t play team defense,” said Wojcik.
Although Wojcik feels that communication needs to be worked on, the Blue Devil defense would be enough for them to pull out a win and prepare for a hard schedule coming up. Westfield is now 2-1 and will take on Ridgewood this Saturday away at 11 a.m.
