The Wolverines lived up to their high seeding as the game started and they immediately got to work offensively. In the opening minute, Nathan Culbreth was able to find Josh Heim with a pass and Heim made no mistake with a strong strike giving the Wolverines 1-0 lead.

After the early goal, the Black Knights tightened up defensively and were able to keep the Wolverines opportunities to a minimum. Silver Creek/Forestville saw some of its best chances early in the first half as it attempted to stretch the defense and looked for the long ball.

“We started the game out pretty even,” Westfield/Brocton coach Jay Pikiewicz said. “I thought that Silver Creek looked pretty strong off the beginning. We played about equal. I know that we had an early goal, but it didn’t slow them down.”

Westfield/Brocton eventually started to find the back of the net, finishing on opportunities generated from their skill and passing. Heim was the culprit once again from Culbreth in the 24th minute, giving the Wolverines another surge of confidence. Their offensive chances became more abundant, but great goalkeeping from the Black Knights’ Jeremy Wilcox kept the score low in the first half.

The back-breaking goal came from Jason Almeter in the last minute of the first half with the assist going to Darien Swanson.

“Midfield was controlled mostly by Nathan Culbreth. He put the ball outside … Jason Almeter and Josh Heim. They worked the ball very well so we possessed,” Pikiewicz said.

In the early part of the second half, the pace of play appeared to be slow as both teams implemented their halftime adjustments. The second-half stall was thrown away when Westfield/Brocton midfielder Gabe Morello sent an excellent chip over the Black Knights defense to a sprinting Almeter who had an excellent strike to the top left corner, giving the Wolverines a 4-0 lead.

The Wolverines went on to score another three goals in the second half, dominating much of the play and generating a plethora of opportunities throughout their lineup. The remaining Westfield/Brocton goals were scored by Noah Knappenberger unassisted, Luke Stephenson from Brad Babcock, and Jordan Czak from Stephenson.

“It was a tough loss for our guys,” Silver Creek/Forestville coach Mark Bratcher said. “Westfield has a great program. I was really proud of the effort our guys put in until the very end.”

“One thing about Silver Creek is that they never gave up,” Pikiewicz said. “The first half they played … strong soccer. We went to a man-to-man coverage on defense which kind of shut down their overload. Silver Creek played smart. They overloaded one side and we didn’t compensate very well in the first half. We picked up on it in the second half. On offense we were crowding the middle. We played the ball more to the outside, which really helped and opened up more of the middle of the field for us.”

Westfield/Brocton will travel to Pioneer on Monday for a semifinal game against Randolph at 5:15 p.m.

“We either play Chautauqua Lake or Randolph. They’re both strong teams,” Pikiewicz said before knowing his team’s next opponent. “Competition goes up. Play goes up. What we need to do is work on our passing and moving the ball.”