By: Justin Feil
If the Princeton High boys’ soccer team had more players like Cranbury’s Kevin Wagner, the Little Tigers probably would not have been sweating out a state tournament berth for the second straight year.
Wagner is one of just a handful of returning starters from last year’s Central Jersey Group III championship team. And while some Little Tigers have been playing as though that title could just land in their laps, Wagner has been playing the role of the spirited veteran, regardless of where that role puts him.
"He was playing at defender and right now he’s in the midfield," said PHS head coach Wayne Sutcliffe, who moved Wagner forward for a 1-0 win over Ewing on Oct. 1. "We weren’t getting enough possession and working hard enough to get into open space. He can help with that. We need more ball control in the midfield.
"He’s a tireless worker. He covers a lot of ground. On last year’s team, he was one of the key defenders. He did a great job back there at the start of the year, but we’re sort of looking at a change."
Sutcliffe’s move has seemed to work, as PHS went from 2-3-1 to 6-3-1 after Wagner moved up. With three games left before the cutoff, that clinches a state berth for the Little Tigers. Last year, they started 3-5-1 before going on a winning streak that didn’t end until the state semifinals.
"When we were 3-5-1, we didn’t want to not go in the state tournament," Wagner said. "We really picked up our game. We didn’t want last year to be the first time in 11 years that we didn’t get into states. This year, we didn’t want that to happen again."
It did not, as the Little Tigers have begun to play up to their potential.
On Oct. 5, they took a 1-0 win over Moorestown. Last Friday, Princeton took a 2-1 win over Hopewell Valley as Wagner had a goal and the Cranbury brother tandem of Ross and Graham McDonald each had assists. Ross McDonald had another assist on Tuesday as the Little Tigers took a 1-0 victory over West Windsor-Plainsboro North to clinch a state berth. "Those teams were all playing well," Sutcliffe said. "We had our work cut out. It’s natural to draw comparisons to last year. The guys who were around understood what it takes." Wagner was confident that the Little Tigers understood both the difficulty of the past three and what it took to win them.
"I definitely think we’ll be fine," he said prior to the Moorestown game. "We know what we have to do to win. We started off slow last year and came back. We have a lot of heart and can win.
"We lost nine seniors and most of them were starters," he added. "We had to fill in spots and we hadn’t played much together in school. And a lot of guys play for different club teams. You could figure it would be a slow start."
But with Wagner’s steadying influence, the ship seems to have righted itself. His daily work ethic sets a strong example for Princeton. He’s comfortable at both the defensive position he’s grown accustomed to with the Little Tigers and the midfield spot that he played more for his club team. In both positions, he’s working to keep PHS moving forward.
The Little Tigers have within their team the ability to be a dominant team again. In the back of every player’s mind is the idea that they could duplicate their success of a year ago.
"We want to win the state championship so badly," Wagner said. "We want to bring home the ring. Just since we got so far last year, we want to do that again. We know it’s hard. We just want to do as best as possible."
Playing their best possible soccer brought the Princeton High boys’ team a CJ III title, and if they can follow the all-out example of veterans like Kevin Wagner, the Little Tigers expect to be able to draw some more comparisons to last season.
