Little Tiger soccer squad reaches CJ III final
By: Bob Nuse
It has been a long time since the Princeton High girls’ soccer team walked off the field having lost a game.
And now, if they can do that one more time, the Little Tigers will walk away with their first sectional title.
Princeton, the No. 2 seed in Central Jersey Group III, shook off a slow start on Wednesday to score three second-half goals and beat third-seeded North Hunterdon, 3-0, at Mercer County Park.
With the win, Princeton improved to 16-2-1 and advanced to the school’s first CJ III final, where it will face Ridge 2 p.m. today at the Player Development Academy in Zarephath.
The shutout of North Hunterdon was the fourth straight for the Little Tigers, who have allowed more than one goal in a game just once this season. That was also the occasion of their last loss, a 3-0 setback to Steinert on Sept. 25.
"We try to communicate and work together on defense as much as possible," said Princeton goalie Samantha Doyle, who made five saves as Princeton recorded its 10th shutout of the season. "It took a couple of games, but I think since the beginning of the season we’ve been working well together. We started out a little slow, but now we’re working well as a group.
"Before, the two wings would just take it up the side. Now we take it back and (Danielle DiMeglio) is able to disperse them. That makes it a lot easier."
Princeton and the Lions battled through a scoreless first half before Lisa Hayes scored two minutes into the second half to give Princeton the only goal it would need. Kia Anderson would add two more goals for Princeton, which won back-to-back games in the state tournament for the first time.
"We had great effort in both halves, but our effort in the first half was not an intelligent soccer effort," Princeton coach Greg Hand said. "I thought we were too cautious on defense and trying to do too much as individuals on offense. In the second half I thought we were more committed to winning the 50/50 balls."
Since losing to Steinert more than six weeks ago, Princeton has gone 13-0-1 and allowed just six goals in 14 games. On Wednesday, Doyle needed to make just five saves to record the shutout in goal.
"I didn’t really have to do much," Doyle said. "The defense kept the ball away from me most of the game. I think we’re playing much better now than we were earlier in the year. We had some new players come in on defense and now that we’ve been working together, I think it has helped us."
And as well as the defense has played, it’s always nice to have a last line of defense like Doyle.
"Sam is very quick and she reacts well," Hand said. "She’s aggressive, especially in the six. And she also does well in the box."
Now Princeton gets a shot at its first sectional title against a top-seeded Ridge team that advanced to the final with a 1-0 overtime win over Ocean on Tuesday.
"Ridge has kids who know the game," Hand said. "We’ll be playing on a very fast surface. I think it’s a great opportunity for both teams. We’ll need to be technically sharp and take advantage of the surface. We’ll need to be aggressive early and not worry about the level of talent."
Ridge will certainly have to worry about a Princeton team that comes into the game playing at a high level itself. Hayes’ goal was her team-leading 13th of the season, while Anderson scored twice to raise her season total to five. Zoe Sarnak and Claire Marchetta have also been big scoring threats for Princeton, which has outscored the opposition 47-12 this season.
"This is a great opportunity for us," Hand said. "The girls have played well and this is something we should enjoy. Ridge is a good team and we’re excited about the chance to play against them."
The way the Little Tigers are playing right now, they’re excited every time they take the field. And most of the time, that leads to walking off the field with a win.