Coinciding with the sunset over Drew University’s Ranger Stadium, the sun set on Westfield’s Ultimate Frisbee team with a 13-10 loss in the state finals to Montclair.
Accompanied by a raucous crowd composed of Westfield’s alternate team, alumni and WHS students, Westfield came into the game prepared. The team’s coach, Ryan Belline, brought in alumni from Westfield’s 2022 championship run to prepare for the game. “[Montclair’s] front end of their zone offense is generally rather tall, so being able to bring in college freshmen definitely allowed us to practice something that was simulated in the game,” said Belline.
Westfield’s path to the state tournament was a tumultuous one. According to junior Nick Regas, “the start of the season wasn’t where we wanted it to be, but we picked it up in the last few weeks.” Westfield entered states with a 19-9 record, earning them the three seed. A crucial 13-9 win over the team’s biggest rival, the two-seeded Columbia High School, sent the team to finals, where they would face Montclair, the defending champions and first seed, who entered states with a 23-5 record. Montclair won both of their previous meetings, as well as a 13-8 win in the pool play phase of states, meaning Westfield entered the game with their backs against the wall.
The first half of the game was a dogfight with the two teams exchanging points, despite several controversial fouls and decisions that largely favored Montclair. This kept Westfield from receiving several points early on. Junior Bennet Ayala scored many points early on off of connections from fellow junior Wesley Davis, who made some crucial defensive plays in the first stages of the game. Seniors Gavin Andretta and Ethan Roitman both ended up skying Montclair players for points which incited major pops from the crowd. Davis and senior Murray Topilow consistently started drives with picture-perfect pulls. However, Montclair tended to have control of the half, with Montclair’s Andrew Zichelli and Harrison Keathley both making frequent trips to the end zone.
Montclair began to pull away with the game, taking a 6-4 lead and creating a situation where they were only one point away from sending the game to halftime. Luckily, end zone grabs from both Andretta and Roitman led to a 6-6 tie, and it created a situation where the next score would lead to the half, the point’s victor gaining momentum entering the next phase of the game. With an unexpected hammer pass from Montclair to an open Keathley, they broke the tie and capped off the first half of the game.
In the second half of the game, Montclair took early control, scoring twice in rapid succession to take a 9-6 lead, the largest in the game yet. Westfield countered, gaining two consecutive points from seniors Ryan Jawor and Lucas Gunzberg, who scored off of an amazing toe-tap catch. Montclair’s Sam McCrory scored after, but Westfield countered with a sky from junior Dominic Romeo to even the game to a 10-9 Montclair lead.
In this crucial part of the game, the action shifted into high gear. Gunzberg recorded a spectacular catch where he kept control despite multiple turns. However, an out of bounds end zone pass later in the drive led to Montclair taking possession which the team scored off of. The core objective of the game for Montclair shifted, where they seeked to either reach 13 points, or let the clock run out. The defending champions got much closer to that goal when they scored off of a break, taking it to game point. Westfield, with their backs against the wall, put up a fight. Junior Evan Bauer had a catch right on the goal line, which he quickly tossed to Davis to make it a 12-10 game with about 7 minutes remaining on the clock.
However, Montclair drained the clock with extreme precision. The clock kept running in an injury the point before, which caused Westfield to lose out on crucial seconds. In the final point of the game, where the teams rapidly traded possessions, Montclair called a timeout with around 5 minutes left which kept the clock running due to the strict 100-minute cap. The timeout served as the final dagger in the chest of the Westfield team. Despite a great interception from senior Luke Tennant, Westfield lost possession soon after. An end-zone grab from Keathley with roughly three minutes left on the clock won Montclair the game and the title, resulting in heartbreak for the Westfield squad.
The brutal ending was a punch in the gut to the Westfield team but hopes are high for the future. According to Regas, “We have a big senior class leaving, so we need to step up. We have a great young group, and if the rising seniors step up, hopefully we can get back here next year and win.”
