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Sports

Westfield Downs Scotch Plains in Ice Hockey Action

The Raiders continue to improve with each game.

For the Scotch Plains-Fanwood High ice hockey team, there is a silver lining, and it comes in the fact that their young squad is improving with every game, despite what the scoreboard says.

The final score on Wednesday had Westfield beating Scotch Plains 8-1, but head coach Matt Gualtieri was happy with his team's performance, especially after seeing his team battle the mighty Blue Devils through an impressive first period, where they trailed 1-0.

"I thought we came out well. We had a couple of chances on the power play, we just couldn't hit the net," Gualtieri said. "It could have been a turning point, getting a couple of goals. They scored two power play goals and a short-handed goal. We played 5-on-5 with them for about half the game and our goalie (Jason Breit) obviously helped us a lot. We were happy with our performance, we generated more scoring chances. "

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"Our performance was better than the first time we played them," added Raiders forward Ed Logie. "We've improved since the first month. They're a good team, tough to play against, the best team in our division. I felt we played most of the game well."

C.J Meyer tallied Westfield's first period goal off an assist by Liam Devin, and then took control in the second period when they netted five goals.

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"We took it a little lightly in the beginning," said Wesfield coach Dennis Doherty. "We gave them a few power plays early, which gave them a little bit of life, but we're a quality team, you keep positive, you tell them to keep working and keep shooting."

Nick Attanasio tallied at the 11:54 mark on assists by Henry O'Brien and Meyer. Two minutes later, Oliver Bevan was assisted by Zander Maslow to make it 3-0.

Attanasio assisted on the Blue Devils next goal as Joe Kramkowski moved the lead to 4-0 at the 7:56 mark. Meyer then assisted on Attanasio's second goal to make it 5-0, before C.J. Meyer finished the second period scoring.

"Our passing came in, we did a lot of cycling, you make the other team chase you around and you get plenty of opportunities off of that. If we're going to do well in the long run of the season, we're going to need all three lines going," Doherty said. 

Steven Wronski was in goal for Westfield, notching 11 saves.

"I thought I played okay," he said. "I had a few big saves down there, but nothing special. Our coach is really pressing down on us that we have to win these games, that every game's important, but sometimes we're too relaxed in the easy games. This game showed us that we can't take any team for granted."

Westfield is second in the league behind Governor Livingston, who they tied on Monday 1-1.

"In the long run, it might be us and them," Doherty said."But you still have sleepers, Johnson tied Summit, anybody can beat anybody."

Logie had the Raiders lone goal, which came with 1:27 left in the third period. He was assisted by John Lenart and Andrew Skood.

"We have little goals," said SP-F coach Gualtieri. "Our goal again was to finish the game and last time we lost by ten, tonight was seven. It was good for us to get through a full game."

The program at SP-F is only in its fifth varsity season and is still growing. They know that success takes time.

"We're realistic with them," Gualtieri said. "We tell them, expect to win the game, and go out and perform that way. Whatever happens, happens. We saw a lot tonight, we're just looking to move forward and continue to progress. Our goal is to perform well in the Union County Tournament."

"We're a very young team," added Logie. "We only have two seniors. We want to win our playoff game at the end of the season for the county league and just overall get better and just use it for a springboard next year."

The coach was excited about the play of two of his skaters, who continue to step up for the Raiders.

"Ed Logie has been playing hard all year but now he's starting to really contribute more on the offensive side," Gualtieri said. "He's really picked it up. On defense, Terrence White has been more physical, he's our biggest guy back there so that's what we're hoping for, he's making his presence felt out there and that's what we need."

Meanwhile, Westfield improved to 7-2-2 and will next face Madison in a tough non-league game.

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