Westfield came back from a 0-1 deficit to defeat J.P. Stevens 7-1 in the first round of the NJSIAA State tournament.
The Blue Devils being the 3rd seed compared to J.P. Stevens 14th seed, allowing an early goal was not ideal for the Blue Devils. Westfield knew they had to come back immediately to suppress any momentum J.P. Stevens gained. Thankfully, junior Sam Judka quickly retaliated, hammering two goals into the back of the net only five minutes later.
Westfield has played twice this previous week against Piscataway and Old Bridge, topping these Group 4 teams 4-1 and 5-0. These surpluses of goals allowed the Blue Devils to enter the first round of the state tournament with surging team chemistry and momentum. The final result of this game, with the Blue Devils burying seven goals, reflected that.
In the first minutes of the game, two close chances came from senior Austen Williams and junior Alex Rokhsar. However, that is when the Hawks soared down the field on a breakaway, causing a foul in the box against the Blue Devils. Giving J.P. Stevens their one and only goal from a penalty kick, only eight minutes into the game
Although the Blue Devils expressed that they did not agree with the call, Williams said, “You can’t change anything after the call is made, so we used that energy to score instead.” Williams added, “That goal definitely gave us motivation. It created a desire within us to not only win but win big on this team.”
After Judka was able to slot his back-to-back goals, the Blue Devils began to build some momentum. Senior Henry Iannuzzi capitalized with a third goal two minutes later. For the rest of this match, J.P. Stevens had no room to breathe as the Blue Devils continued to relentlessly press their defense. Many others stepped up with quality goals and assists to finalize the 7-1 result.
The team’s chemistry and unselfishness are largely responsible for the plethora of goals that came from the Blue Devils. Judka said, “It’s all because of my teammates, just being able to build off of them and their passes.” Adding to that, head coach Eric Shaw said, “We have been working on sharing the ball and combining in the final third and being unselfish… Today we tried to create opportunities for each other.”
The Blue Devils look forward to the rest of the state tournament with high hopes and big goals in mind. “We’re hungry. We all know what the end goal is; win a state championship. We have to get through some tough teams first though” said Judka.
Shaw said, “One game at a time, that’s the motto. We only have one more 80-minute match guaranteed so we just have to compete 80 minutes at a time.”
The Blue Devils are excited to face sixth-seeded Irvington at home on Nov. 8 for the second round of the NJSIAA State tournament.
