They lived up to the moment.

The Wolverines responded to an early goal from the visitors with four unanswered goals — two in each half — to earn a 4-1 victory in Thursday’s Section VI Class C quarterfinal boys soccer game.

“It’s a great atmosphere. We’ve always wanted to have home games, because it’s a certain type of atmosphere you get when you play at home,” Huber said. ” … We had a lot of fans, and that’s always exciting.”

Despite the dominant result in the favor of No. 4 Westfield it was No. 5 Holland that struck first. Not even three minutes into the game, a corner kick sent into the box was redirected on a header by Holland captain Jack Galley for the game’s first tally.

Westfield/Brocton’s Aiden Gatto chips in a goal against Holland in Thursday’s Section VI Class C quarterfinal. OBSERVER Photo by Jason Bower

“One thing we’ve talked about this year is overcoming adversity. My guys obviously did that,” Huber said.

They certainly did.

Just over five minutes after falling behind, the Wolverines evened the score on a quick touch pass from Carson Swanson to Aiden Gatto to set up the goal. Westfield/Brocton’s leading scorer on the regular season was Swanson, with 28 goals and 12 assists entering Thursday’s contest. While he made his initial impact on the game with the assist, Swanson quickly got back to what he does better than anyone.

In fact, he emphasized that he really does do it better than anyone — at least anyone who has ever worn a Wolverines uniform.

Swanson put the Wolverines ahead 2-1 with 21:33 left in the first half, as he corralled a long pass out of the air and dashed past the Holland defense to bury the ball in the low right corner of the net. The goal didn’t just put the Wolverines ahead on the evening, it also tied him for the single-season scoring mark in Westfield history.

Wolverines’ Danny Bratton dribbles upfield while being defended by Holland’s Trent Lewandowski. OBSERVER Photo by Jason Bower

But who likes a tie?

With a 2-1 advantage coming out of the break, Swanson had two major opportunities to score his 30th goal of the season to set a new mark. On the second chance, he did so.

With 29:02 left to play in the contest, Westfield/Brocton’s lead doubled to 3-1 off the foot of the best goal scorer in program history.

“It’s unbelievable. If it wasn’t for my team, I don’t think I would be able to do it,” Swanson said. “They were able to get me some good balls and I was able to finish them.”

Noting the environment of the home playoff game, Swanson added, “There was a lot of people here, it looks like probably the most people we’ve had. It’s just great to do it in front of everyone.”

Swanson, a junior, already set the career scoring record in his first game of the season. In the latest, he added “Westfield single-season record holder” to his resume.

Even after setting the single-season scoring record, Swanson credited his teammates. The praise went both ways, as teammate Mihir Patel spoke over him in the postgame interview to say, “He’s unstoppable.”

“You can’t say enough good things about this kid, you really can’t,” Huber said. ” … He’s just one of those kids that you just like to see succeed. I hope he continues to do that.”

Not even a minute later, the Wolverines put the game to bed. Tahner Stow buried Westfield/Brocton’s fourth goal of the game with just over 28 minutes remaining in the contest. Anthony Gatto earned the assist on Stow’s goal, along with on each of Swanson’s goals, to give the younger Gatto three assists to go with Aiden Gatto’s early goal.

“We’ve got some superstars on this team, and it’s not always Carson (Swanson), Aiden (Gatto), Anthony (Gatto),” Huber said.

Both Huber and Swanson highlighted the performance of the defense of the Wolverines, including Isaac Stoughton, Tristen Phillips, Adam Eggleston, Micah Heim and Brocton senior Donovan St. George.

“Defensively, they played so well today,” Swanson said. ” … Our defense didn’t let anything happen back there. Isaac (Stoughton) probably had one of the best games I’ve ever seen.”

The final 28 minutes were scoreless en route to a 4-1 victory for the host Wolverines.

While the Wolverines entered Thursday’s contest as the No. 4 seed with four losses in the regular season, only two teams in Western New York defeated the Wolverines this season, No. 2 Maple Grove and No. 3 Randolph.

The Wolverines proved Thursday that there really was quite a dropoff after the top-four seeds in Class C. Thursday’s results solidified that one of those top four seeds will win the Section VI title as Wilson, Maple Grove and Randolph all were victorious, as well.

Westfield/Brocton advances to face No. 1 Wilson in the semifinals on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. at Eden High School. Maple Grove and Randolph square off in the 5 p.m. semifinal.

“We just have fun and we look forward to the next round. It’s always fun,” said Huber. “Hopefully we get through that next round and we’ll see what we can pull off.”