Following a hard, low-scoring struggle in front of an enthusiastic crowd at Kehler Field, the Westfield Lady Devils field hockey team edged the the Cranford Lady Cougars, 1-0 in their final game of this season on Monday.
Both teams looked confident off of the opening whistle, with Cranford driving down to the Lady Devils' goal first. They stayed there for the first ten minutes riding on a stellar offensive performance by No. 2 Hillary Joseph who pushed the Lady Cougars up the field from the outside several times.
After defending a few Cranford scoring drives, the home team Devils fought back. Several Westfield attackers crashed the Cranford goal, and amidst the confusion, No. 9 Natalie Materek put the ball away with 17:47 to go in the half, to make it 1-0.
Find out what's happening in Westfieldwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
A few minutes later, another Westfield scoring chance came after a breakaway down the left side. The ball was centered hard from the end line, and an attacker seemed to score in the chaos in front of the goal. After the referees deliberated, it was determined that there was a foul on the play, and the goal was called back, much to the dismay of the crowd and the Lady Devils' bench.
The rest of the first half was evenly played, as both sides had excellent scoring opportunities, but neither team could finish. At the end of the first 30 minutes, the score remained 1-0.
Find out what's happening in Westfieldwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
As the teams switched sides for the second half, Cranford came out with a spark, forcing three consecutive corners, but the Westfield defense held strong. The Lady Devils then worked the ball back to the Cougar goal, but Cranford goalkeeper Sara Carolan knocked a hard shot away to safety.
Westfield goalie Kim Brunhofer was not to be shown up, though, as she knocked down a shot by No. 10 Marissa Buzar on a one-on-one breakaway, diving to her left and kicking the ball away.
The second half continued scoreless, and with three minutes left on the clock, Cranford coach Meghan Snyder called a timeout to talk to her team and instill some confidence. The Lady Cougars stepped it up after their pep talk, and Hillary Joseph made one last run down the field, but time ran out with Westfield up 1-0.
Lady Devils coach Caitlin MacDonald commented on her team's end-of-the-season performance, noting, "earlier in the season, they [Cranford] beat us 4-2. I am extremely proud of them. We had to put it on the line on the field."
Westfield closed their 2009 season at 3-14-1 with the win over Cranford.
"This was a rebuilding year for us," said MacDonald. "We had to overcome some obstacles. We ended up getting better from the beginning of the year to the end of the year, and that's all we can ask for."
Goalscorer and junior Natalie Materek looks forward to next season with optimism.
"Everyone had a really positive attitude," she said. "We always know we can do more. We realized we can really do this. I think, overall, as a team, we play well together. This season helped us out a lot, and we'll come out next year even stronger. We'll come out how we are playing now."
Though Westfield's season has concluded, Cranford is still alive in the state tournament. Coach Snyder was complimentary of her opponent, but knows her team can do better. "Westfield came to play," she said. "They're a hard team to predict."
An equally difficult task is predicting the Lady Cougars' performance in the states.
At 7-9 they have demonstrated a penchant for winning, but Coach Snyder would like to see more consistency.
"We had Summit in our first round, and it depends on which team shows up to play," she said. "We have Oak Knoll tomorrow."
