Champions Often and Forever: WHS Girls Soccer Wins the Conference, County, Sectional and State Championships!

Westfield High School’s girls’ soccer team clinched the New Jersey State Championship in a 1-0 thrilling victory over Eastern Regional High School. The match, which took place in a high-stakes, intense atmosphere, saw Westfield’s tactical discipline and individual brilliance shine through.

Blue Devil sophomore Emilie Caidgan broke a scoreless tie in the final 2 minutes of the game to secure the win.

The Blue Devils took control early in the game, showcasing strong defensive organization and clinical finishing. But despite controlling possession most of the game, the offense was stymied by Easter goalie Araba Abanyie.

The final goal, according to Westfield head coach Alex Schmidt, was set up by the perfect defensive positioning by Cat Oliveira to intercept and find Audra Toth, who, true to her style, drove at the defense with speed.

After the ball deflected to Cadigan, she kept the shot low and away from goaltender Abanyie.
“I knew I had to hit it low because their goalie was so great at getting those high shots,” said Cadigan. “I’ve had so much support from everyone this year and I know they trust me to take that shot. This is just so crazy and I’m so happy that we won the state title.”

“As expected, Eastern was a formidable opponent. It’s the state finals — no team is going to give less than their best effort. What we didn’t anticipate, however, were the strong winds and the outstanding performance by Eastern’s goalkeeper,” said Schmidt.

Senior Erin Hazard was a leader on the back line next to juniors Callie Schmidt, Olivia DiGregorio and Andie Janota. Junior keeper Sofia Buoscio only had to make two saves in net to secure the shutout.

“With only two minutes remaining, we knew the championship was ours: the program’s second state title in four years and the fourth in its 44-year history!” said Schmidt.

It was quite a year as the team was 20-1 and won not only the NJSIAA Group 4 state championship, but also won the Watchung Conference title, the Union County Championship and the NJSIAA North 2, Group 4 sectional championship.

The coach summarized, by saying, “Our championship wouldn’t have been possible without our five selfless seniors — Audra Toth, Erin Hazard, Brooke Morrison, Lauren Furey, and Olivia Thornton. Through their leadership, maturity, and ability to keep the team focused, we overcame numerous obstacles to reach the success we achieved. Many teams can pull off a winning season in a single year, but sustaining excellence in a team sport like soccer over four years requires extraordinary effort, focus, and commitment. Players who have been on the team for three years have secured 8 out of 12 possible titles while only losing 3 games in total. Winning this many titles and finding this much yearly success is never the ultimate goal — improvement always takes precedence — but the victories are a natural byproduct of the trust, transparency, and strong bonds these girls build every year.”