The goal all season for Westfield’s field hockey team was to win a title, something the program had yet to accomplish in its six-year history.
The Bulldogs fell short of that mark the first time around when they lost in the semifinals of the Concorde District tournament. Friday night they have an even better chance.
Westfield senior midfielder Chris Mai scored a critical goal early in the second half and senior goalie Jennifer Wisniewski stopped seven Langley shots, including a flurry in the final minutes, as the Bulldogs held on for a 2-1 victory over the Saxons in a Northern Region tournament semifinal game at Oakton on Wednesday.
The win means Westfield (16-5) advances to the Group AAA state tournament next week for the first time in program history. In the region final on Friday, the Bulldogs face W.T. Woodson, a convincing 4-1 winner over Chantilly in the evening’s other semifinal.
“Langley is a really good team and they weren’t going to give up,” Wisniewski said. “I was just flopping and hoping all over the place at the end.”
It was a tough end for Langley (16-3), which was hoping for another shot at Woodson, its Liberty District rival and the only team to beat the Saxons this season. Junior forward Katie Knapp scored with 25 minutes, 28 seconds left in the game on a feed from junior teammate Faith Adams.
That brought Langley to within one, at 2-1, and left it to Wisniewski to fend off the Saxons down the stretch. She twice stopped penalty corners with about 8 minutes to go and made a key kick save with a minute left to end Langley’s last best chance.
Northern lights
» Westfield and Woodson square off for the Northern Region tournament title at 7 p.m. Friday at Oakton.
» W.T Woodson fell behind 1-0 to Chantilly, but quickly halted the upset bid with three goals in the final 11 minutes of the first half en route to a 4-1 win. Junior forward Olivia Galvin scored twice for the Cavaliers.
» Woodson is seeking its fourth region championship in five years.
