Westfield Wears Down Kent Place, Advances to County Semifinals

Frustration permeated the Westfield sideline. Tension hung thick. The Blue Devils, ranked first in the state and fourth in the nation, struggled to pierce Kent Place’s back line in this Union County Tournament quarterfinal.

All it took was one moment.

A few minutes into the second half, senior Chiara Cosenza banged a deft shot into the side netting, providing the Blue Devils the goal they needed to defeat the Dragons, 1-0, and advance to the Union County Tournament semifinals. 

“We’ve dealt with teams sitting in all year,” head coach Alex Schmidt said. “I just don’t think we were patient enough in the first half.”

Westfield waged a war of attrition in the victory, gobbling up the lion’s share of possession. But the Blue Devils manufactured only a couple clear scoring opportunities. Midway through the first half, junior Ella Cadigan was through on goal after splitting the defense with nifty footwork, but the Dragon arose within the keeper as she charged off her line to make the save.

At halftime, the teams sat in a 0-0 deadlock. “I feel like at the beginning of the game, the whole team kind of struggled to get in a rhythm,” Cosenza said, “but the [halftime] locker room talk really got us into it.”

The locker-room speech was simple: “Just a bit of energy,” Schmidt said. His players responded. Westfield launched a flurry of attacks, winning a pair of corner kicks minutes into the second half. It seemed like the ball spent more time in the Kent Place penalty area than in the Westfield half of the field. 

The Blue Devils searched for an insurance goal, but it would not come. With Kent Place refusing to budge from its strategy of sitting deep, Westfield was forced to put in crosses that Kent Place defended easily. A few of these crosses led to Kent Place counterattacks. 

With about two minutes to play, Kent Place found itself with an opportunity for a stunning late equalizer. After a Blue Devil attack, the Dragons swooped in and embarked on a swift maneuver down the left flank against a skeleton Westfield defense. One Kent Place forward passed the ball across the box to an open teammate. 

The forward was through on goal, ready to stun the top-seeded Blue Devils and send the game to overtime.

The goal gaped. But senior goalkeeper and co-captain Sutton Factor flew off her line to cut down the angle and make a crucial save. She even caught the ball, snuffing the Dragons’ flame.

Schmidt praised Factor for staying alert and composed. “To be able to smother that ball and then hold on to it, good for her,” he said.

The Blue Devils ultimately escaped with a victory, but the close call was more than they bargained for. “Before the game,” senior co-captain Emma Kelesoglu said, “we all said, ‘don’t underestimate this team,’ which I think we might have anyway. But we should not have.”

Westfield will play again on Sunday, against either fourth-seeded Summit or fifth-seeded Governor Livingston. The Blue Devils have already defeated each team twice this season.

“We played a hard season with a target on our back,” Schmidt said. “Now it’s a little different when you can lose and that’d be it for the tournament.”