By Phil Murphy
Senior Multimedia/Content Editor
Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Area
*Click the links on the top-left for full video and photo coverage of Wednesday’s game.*
His scoring chance seemed to have been extinguished by the outstretched hand of Yorktown sophomore goalkeeper Max Von Schrader.
But with the ball heading away from goal in a scoreless match, three Patriots and a scrambling Schrader stood between Bulldog senior Sean Murnane and the net. But he used surgical precision to thread his shot to the far post in the 58th minute.
“It went in between a couple guys and maybe little bit to the left or right it would’ve hit them,” said Murnane, the Northern Region Player of the Year. “But this is playoff time. Sometimes a little luck is what you need.”
Whatever the mix of fortune and skill, it was exactly the boost that young Westfield needed for its 11th win in 12 matches, 2-0, over a quality Yorktown side in the regional semifinals at Madison on Thursday.
At the game’s outset, Murnane dropped to a facilitating, midfield role to open space for senior Irvin Herrera in the attacking third, which was playing more crowded due to the narrow pitch.
But there was nothing conservative about his go-ahead goal.
“Irvin played a great ball through on a run and the goalie was a little bit out to cut my angle down,” said Murnane, one of four senior starters. “I tried to put it around him, but he made a nice save, touched it wide.
“I cut around, he was out and I saw that they had three guys, but they left the far post open. I tried to tuck it in and it went in.”
The first hour of the match was saw two goals disallowed — one for each team — and players adjusting to the 58-yard-wide field, visibly narrower than the home pitch of either the Patriots or the Bulldogs.
But 18 minutes after it found is first tally, Westfield struck again.
Senior midfielder Jack Rafferty gained possession 40 yards from goal, made a diagonal run towards the top of the penalty area and fired a low, hard shot across his body from 23 yards away.
Rafferty, who scored against Yorktown in a 2-0, Senior Night win on April 30, doubled the margin and all but cemented victory with four minutes left in regulation.
“We’ve got the two big players up top that usually take up the chances, so when we get them, we’ve got to take advantage of them,” Rafferty said. “I just got on the right side with a little space in front of me, had a defender in front of me and just cut it to the left, looked up and saw the goalkeeper cheating to the left. I just hit it to the right.”
Added Murnane, on the adjusting to field dimensions: “At home at Westfield, [we have a] very large field, very wide. We had to adjust a little bit on the wings and with throw-ins, with our marking — that was huge — because you can pretty much get it to the back stick from the side.
“We’ll work on that again at practice, because we know it’s going to be like this and we should be ready to go on Friday.”
With the win, Westfield advanced to the Northern Region final against Robinson, also to be played at Madison, on Friday at 4 p.m., the second time the sides have met this year.
In their early-season match-up on March 27, Murnane put the Bulldogs in front in the 37th minute, but the Rams scored three unanswered, second-half goals to escape with a 3-1 road win.
Westfield coach Tom Torres stressed “redemption, not revenge” as his team’s focus in the regional championship game.
“There’s going to be a lot of one- and two-touch on the ground, little combinations and what not,” Rafferty said of the title-game strategy with the smaller field. “We’re not going to be able to do the big long ball over the top that we’ve relied on through the season. Basically, we’ll have to play it through the midfield and wait for our chances.”
Added Murnane, who has never beaten Robinson in his career: “We’ve got automatic bid in states, but our work is not done yet. We want a regional title — that was one of our goals at the beginning of the season.
“We know our work is not done and we’re going to come out flying on Friday.”
Email: pmurphy@digitalsports.com
Yorktown (10-7-3) 0 0 — 0
Westfield (15-2-0) 0 2 — 2
Goals:
WF — Murnane (58)
WF — Rafferty (76)
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