As fans anxiously waited in the stands, Westfield lurked in the locker room for 20 minutes. The game was set to start at 8 p.m., but due to the prior matchup of Glen Rock and Glen Ridge going into five rounds of overtime, at 10 p.m., neither Westfield nor Summit had hit the ice. Whispers circulated throughout the crowd as rumors of the game being postponed started to form. Both the Westfield and Summit student sections dwindled down to fewer and fewer students every minute.
“I was concerned the game wasn’t going to be played tonight,” said head coach Joe Bertucci. “There were actually conversations with athletic directors and committees about the thought of canceling or postponing the game.”
After 2 hours and 21 minutes had passed, the rumors of the game being postponed had been proven false. For the first time in Westfield history, the boys hockey team would play the McInnis Cup final at 10:21 p.m..
As expected, both teams had come off to a slow start. The first goal was not scored until very late in the first period. With just about two minutes left in the first period, junior Aiden Wilson had scored to give Westfield their first lead of the game.
In a quick turn around, to start off the second period, what looked as though it was a goal by junior Jackson Chicola was awarded to senior captain Michael Wilson to give the Blue Devils a lead, 2-0. Just a minute later, Summit had scored a goal to narrow down the lead, 2-1.
As Summit began to pick up the momentum, the game grew more physically aggressive. Midway through the period, junior Jack Conrod had suffered a hit from a Summit player and came out of the game with a shoulder injury. Wilson and senior captain Alex Ebel were simultaneously thrown into the penalty box with under five minutes left into the second period. Although Summit had a two-player advantage for the duration of the penalty, a seemingly golden opportunity to at least tie the game up, they failed to score. The lead remained, 2-1, going into the third period.
Despite Summit’s missed opportunity in the second period, a few minutes in, Summit had scored to tie the game up, 2-2. Groans soared throughout the arena as fans feared yet another game going into overtime. However, Aiden Wilson had quickly abolished this fear, scoring a clean shot on the Summit goalie to take back the lead for Westfield, 3-2.
Six minutes later, to solidify the lead, senior Kolby Azzaretto snuck the puck past the Summit goalie to increase the Blue Devils lead, 4-2. Summit, still unwilling to give up, had taken out their goalie to have an offensive player advantage for a better chance at scoring. This move had backfired, as Aiden Wilson scored yet another goal to complete a hat trick and give Westfield a 5-2 lead. Of the five goals scored, “We had four goals on the power play. I think that was the defining factor in this game, this big win today,” said Michael Wilson.
As the clock struck midnight, Westfield had officially won the McInnis Cup championship, giving them the number one seed in the south division for the upcoming tournament for the Public South trophy.
“I think we played fantastic. I mean, rough first period, but we came back and were able to work our systems at the end and we pulled through with the dub,” said Azzaretto.
To no surprise, even with the glorious victory, the two-hour delay had made it more difficult for Westfield to win the game. Aiden Wilson said, “It was hard to win the game after the delay, but, after the first period we came together and came out winning.”
The Blue Devils will play in the first round of the Public South sectional tournament on Feb. 20 against the winner of Princeton and Scotch Plains-Fanwood matchup.
