The Westfield ice hockey team is right back where it wants to be.
After capturing its first division title by winning the Union County Ice Hockey League’s regular season slate with a 10-0-2 mark, the top-seeded Blue Devils returned to the league’s Union County Cup final after defeating fifth-seeded Johnson 6-0 in Wednesday night’s first semifinal at Warinanco Ice Rink in Roselle.
Sophomore forward Sam Meyer netted two goals, while teammates Liam Devin, Ryan Morse, Nick Attanasio and Dane Huber added one.
Find out what's happening in Westfieldfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Junior goaltender Steve Wronski made 11 saves to earn a shutout.
Second-seeded Summit defeated sixth-seeded Gov. Livingston 12-2 in Wednesday night’s second semifinal at Warinanco.
Find out what's happening in Westfieldfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
As expected, the Blue Devils (17-3-2) and Hilltoppers (17-2-3) will meet for a third time this season in Saturday’s 6 p.m. championship game at Warinanco.
Summit, after winning the regular season title last year, won the Union County Cup as the top seed when it defeated third-seeded Westfield 4-2 in the final at Warinanco.
The teams battled to two hard-fought 2-2 ties this year. The difference in Westfield finishing a point ahead of Summit for the regular season title was the fact that Summit, which finished 9-0-3 in league play, was tied by Cranford late in the season.
“It will take determination and drive and sticking to our game plan,” said Attanasio of how Westfield will attempt to beat Summit for the title.
A senior forward, Attanasio reached the coveted milestone of 100 career points earlier this season.
Here’s a look at this year’s Summit-Westfield UCIHL regular season games:
Jan. 19 at Warinanco: Summit 2, Westfield 2 (tie)
Summit was the visiting team and took a 2-0 lead after the first 30 minutes with two second period goals. Frank Lawrence scored on the power play off assists from Eric Stabler and Liam McLaughlin and then two minutes later Mike Tisang scored off an assist from Timmy Yager.
Westfield evened the game at 2-2 in the third period behind two goals from Attanasio. CJ Meyer and Henry O’Brien assisted on the first one and CJ Meyer on the second, which was produced with just one minute left.
Summit goalie Jason Stuckey made 14 saves and Westfield senior Morgan Bungerz 19.
Feb. 15 at Warinanco: Westfield 2, Summit 2 (tie)
Westfield was the visiting team and came back to take a 2-1 lead in the second period when Huber scored off assists from CJ Meyer and Devin.
Summit took a 1-0 lead in the first period on a power play goal by Yager that was assisted by Mike Santina. Westfield tied the game at 1-1 in the first on a goal by Attanasio off assists from CJ Meyer and Huber.
Summit tied the game at 2-2 in the second period on a goal by Mike Nyitray with Travis Harden and Jeff Wyckoff assisting.
Stuckey made 18 saves and Wronski 19.
“This is a rivalry and a championship game, so we’re going to play our hearts out and leave everything we have on the ice,” Attanasio said. “Both teams will have chance after chance and it will be a fast-paced game.
“Both games this year were 2-2, so it should be another close, low-scoring game.”
Westfield and Summit played four times last season, with Summit blanking Westfield twice for the only two times the Blue Devils were shut out in 2009-2010.
The teams first played to a 0-0 tie at Warinanco in the Cron Tournament. Three weeks later Westfield defeated Summit 7-4 at Warinanco in league play.
Five weeks after that Summit came back to halt Westfield 2-0 in a league tilt at Warinanco.
In the Union County Cup final at Warinanco in late February, Summit received goals from Yager in the first period that tied the game 1-1, Stabler in the second period that evened the contest at 2-2, Jon Santina in the third period that was the game-winner and gave the Hilltoppers the lead for good at 3-2 and Bobby Lawrence an empty net score for the final outcome.
CJ Meyer scored off an assist from Attanasio in the first period to give Westfield a 1-0 lead. Devin scored unassisted in the second period to put the Blue Devils up 2-1.
UNION COUNTY CUP SEMIFINALS
AT WARINANCO ICE RINK, ROSELLE
5-JOHNSON (7-15) 0 0 0 - 0
1-WESTFIELD (17-3-2) 2 2 2 - 6
FIRST PERIOD SCORING:
WESTFIELD – Goal: Liam Devin. Assists: Nick Attanasio, CJ Meyer.
Time of power play goal: 3:37.
Westfield leads 1-0.
WESTFIELD – Goal: Ryan Morse. Assist: Colin Fitzhenry.
Time of even strength goal: 12:28.
Westfield leads 2-0.
SHOTS ON GOAL: Johnson 2, Westfield 11.
SAVES: Johnson 9, Westfield 2.
SECOND PERIOD SCORING:
WESTFIELD – Goal: Sam Meyer. Assists: Liam Devin, Ryan Morse.
Time of even strength goal: 1:08.
Westfield leads 3-0.
WESTFIELD – Goal: Nick Attanasio. Assists: Dane Huber, CJ Meyer.
Time of even strength goal: 7:03.
Westfield leads 4-0.
SHOTS ON GOAL: Johnson 7, Westfield 9.
SAVES: Johnson 7, Westfield 7.
THIRD PERIOD SCORING:
WESTFIELD – Goal: Sam Meyer. Assist: Colin Fitzhenry.
Time of even strength goal: 1:13.
Westfield leads 5-0.
WESTFIELD – Goal: Dane Huber. Assists: CJ Meyer, Nick Attanasio.
Time of power play goal: 19:12.
Westfield leads 6-0.
SHOTS ON GOAL: Johnson 2, Westfield 10.
SAVES: Johnson 8, Westfield 2.
GAME TOTALS:
SHOTS ON GOAL: Johnson 11, Westfield 30.
SAVES: Johnson 24, Westfield 11.
UNION COUNTY ICE HOCKEY LEAGUE
FINAL REGULAR SEASON STANDINGS
1-Westfield (10-0-2), 22 points – champion
2-Summit (9-0-3), 21 points
3-Cranford (7-3-2), 16 points
4-Scotch Plains (5-6-1), 11 points
5-Johnson (5-7-0), 10 points
6-Gov. Livingston (2-10-0), 4 points
7-Dayton (0-12), 0 points
UNION COUNTY CUP PLAYOFFS AT WARINANCO
SEEDING: 1-Westfield. 2-Summit. 3-Cranford.
4-Scotch Plains. 5-Johnson. 6-Gov. Livingston. 7-Dayton.
QUARTERFINALS
Monday, Feb. 21
Summit 11, Dayton 1
Gov. Livingston 5, Cranford 4
Johnson 7, Scotch Plains 2
Westfield received a bye
SEMIFINALS
Wednesday, Feb. 23
Westfield 6, Johnson 0
Summit 12, Gov. Livingston 2
FINAL
Saturday, Feb. 26
2-Summit vs. 1-Westfield, 6 p.m.
2010 UNION COUNTY CUP FINAL: Summit 4, Westfield 2
2010-2011 OVERALL RECORDS:
Westfield (17-3-2), Summit (17-2-3),
Scotch Plains (9-13-1), Cranford (8-13-2), Johnson (7-15),
Gov. Livingston (4-17), Dayton (4-19).
IN STATES:
PUBLIC A: 29-Monroe vs. 4-Westfield, first round by March 1.
PUBLIC B: 26-Madison vs. 7-Summit, first round at Warinanco by March 1.
