Westfield and Ridgewood Skate to a 3-3 Tie

In a non-league clash at Warinanco Rink on Thursday night, the Westfield Blue Devils (8-5-3) got an early third period goal from Sophomore Dane Huber and Ridgewood (11-5-1) survived a furious surge in the final stanza by the Blue Devils as the teams settled for a 3-3 tie.

 Ridgewood jumped to an early lead just 17 seconds into the contest on an errant clearing pass that had Westfield stunned right from the start. The Blue Devils quickly regained their composure and began carrying play, tying the score at the 9 minute mark of the 1st when Sophomore Anderson Eckert deftly tipped Junior Liam Devin’s shot from the point past Ridgewood goalie Alex Santoliquido.

Huber put Westfield on top about three minutes later, taking a pass from sophomore Christian Rosa at the offensive blue line, beating a Maroon defenseman and lifting a goal mouth scoop past Santoliquido for a 2-1 lead.

The margin was short lived, however, as Ridgewood standout Peter McGinley rushed up ice and snuck a deflected shot past Westfield netminder Steve Wronski with only nine seconds left in the first to tie the score.

McGinley struck again late in the 2nd, moving off the half wall and beating two Blue Devil defenders to give the Maroons a 3-2 lead.

Huber’s shorthanded goal, assisted by Sophomore Andrew Stern, began a 3rd period largely dominated by Westfield, with several sterling chances late in the game by the Blue Devils just missing their mark.

Westfield, who is in the middle of a tough three game stretch of non-league contests, will play Monroe on Monday, January 30th in preparation for their critical Union County tilt against league leading Summit (Wednesday, February 1st @ 8.30pm, Warinanco). The Westfield-Summit game will have significant impact on the Union County playoff seedings and should provide Westfield with a indication of whether their 8-3 loss to Summit just two short weeks ago was an anomaly or a precursor of things to come.