When Kent Place took the field against Westfield, they wanted to continue their Union County Tournament Cinderella run. That run came to an end at Nolan Field in Clark on Saturday, where the Blue Devils finished on top with a dominant 6-0 win to punch their ticket to the Union County Tournament Championship.
Westfield picked up where they left off, with senior captain Emilie Cadigan finding the back of the net after a beautiful feed from junior Mia Zbranak to open the scoring.
While the Blue Devils were able to keep the ball away from the Dragons for a large part of the first half, their shots were unsuccessful. That was until Cadigan was fouled with six minutes left and drilled her free kick, extending the lead.
Westfield was not done for the half, however, as senior Ava Jasina scored to send the Blue Devils into halftime with a 3-0 lead.
“We had a different game plan today,” said head coach Alex Schmidt. “We played a little two-holding, double attack, so one attacking, one target, which we practiced all week. So, the lineup was a little bit different.”
In the second half, the Westfield attack continued to be too much of a task for Kent Place. Jasina scored her second goal of the game off a pass from Zbranak. She was followed by Carolina Corcoran, who found the back of the net off a penalty kick. The final nail was put in the coffin when Cadigan scored, completing the hat-trick and a 6-0 Westfield mercy victory.
Cadigan said, “We remained calm on the ball, not forcing it at all. I think we did a great job, and that’s how we got so many opportunities. It being such a big game next week, I think that’s very important to stay calm.”
“We love a shutout,” said Schmidt. “For defenders, we don’t score a lot of goals or assists; instead, they count their games on shutouts. Even at the end when we made a bunch of subs, the subs did really well.”
“In the beginning of the season, we kind of had a few bumps with that, adjusting to a new defense,” said senior Mairin Fowler. “We lost some defenders last year, but this is the most important time to not be letting up goals and to have our defense be strong, and we’ve been on a roll. I think just having defensive discipline, being vocal with our back line, and being patient, especially not forcing the ball anywhere.”
Westfield will take on Scotch-Plains Fanwood in the Union County Tournament Championship next Saturday, who they tied in their previous matchup this season.
