Tears and frustration rose in the 2023-24 sectional finals round of the NJSIAA tournament as Westfield fell to Manapalan, losing by just one goal. This frustration and devastation sunk into each returning player as this year’s second round against Manalapan became more than just a game. It was revenge.
Senior assistant captain Aidan Wilson said, “There was a lot of hype around this game, especially because we lost last year to them. Everyone here prepared extremely well. We just knew what we had to do and we passed around him [Manalapan goalie] and found the back of the net.”
Coming into this game, not only was last year’s loss in the minds of the players, but each player knew the capability of Christian Esposito, Manapalan’s goalie. With the hype around him, the players knew they needed to create enough opportunities to put the puck behind the net. Senior assistant captain Jackson Chicola said, “We knew he was really good and we kind of watched some film and pointed out some weaknesses, and I think we executed it really well today.”
Coming into the game, the players had built up energy and were ready to come prepared. Wilson said, “It was exhilarating. This is the biggest game we have played in a while. Everyone had a lot of emotions and obviously it showed on the ice today.” Chicola followed by saying, “This team’s never been more dialed in. We were so excited to play this game. We were talking about how excited we were all day in school.”
The first period showed Westfield’s passion as they came out hot with junior Nick Benson scoring the first goal. Shortly after, Chicola hit the puck behind the net and the Blue Devil’s confidence was sustained throughout the whole game. Head coach Joe Bertucci felt that the team did well with “getting on the board early.” He said, “They have a very good goaltender, and the key was to score early, and that kind of eased the tension a little bit and getting the second one right after that was huge.”
The Blue Devils’ offense and defense held themselves strong. Bertucci said, “When you only give up 9 shots but take 51 shots, you’re gonna win most of the game so we did a good job just limiting their scoring opportunities. They had really no pressure on our defense zone at all, so being able to get pucks up and out and in their zone.”
In the second period, Wilson struck the puck into the net and the Blue Devil’s energy did not falter. Throughout the second period, the defense let nothing by and the Braves’ frustration grew. The last quarter was aggressive and chippy but Westfield finished another goal from Luca McLaren, securing the 4-0 lead.
The state tournament has been full of upsets so far. No. 1 Bridgewater Raritan lost to No. 8 Monroe 3-2. The Blue Devils will take on No. 3 Hillsborough on March 3rd in the NJSIAA Sectional Tournament, Semifinal Round, where they will look to get another big win and keep their hot streak going. Chicola said, “We started off so well and we just wanted to continue on what we were doing. We just need to keep the same mentality that we came in with, like jump on them right from the start and like, we know how good of a team we are we just need to play like that.”
