Yetter helped take MHS to the next level
By: Justin Feil
There was a time when Jim Yetter looked forward equally to the ice hockey and lacrosse seasons.
In the last year, that changed for the Montgomery High junior.
"This year, it was all about lacrosse," said Yetter, who nonetheless was one of the Cougar ice hockey team’s top players. "You can pick up stick and go throw in the backyard. Hockey, you have to go get changed and drive to a rink. Now, it’s just lacrosse definitely."
Yetter felt as though he had to commit more to lacrosse to prepare for this season. With most of the team returning from a 17-5 season, big things were expected of the Cougars. They moved up from the Curcio Division to the Bianchi Division and set their sights on advancing farther in the county and state tournaments.
"Four or five years ago when I first started this program, you could have blown the dust off the sticks March 8," said MHS head coach Tim Sullivan. "Now they want to do as much as they can."
Yetter played all summer with his teammates and continued to prepare for the spring by playing in a winter league in Flemington with the Cougars during the ice hockey season. When the spring came around, Yetter showed that he was even better than in previous years when he was MHS’ leading scorer.
Yetter led the Cougars with a career-high 50 goals and 24 assists and was second on the team with 80 ground balls. He helped MHS make the jump to not only win the Bianchi title for the first time ever, but win the Somerset County Tournament for the first time ever and advance to the Group II state tournament semifinals while posting a 17-4 record.
Jim Yetter is the Princeton Packet Boys’ Lacrosse Player of the Year.
"His confidence is getting stronger and stronger every day," Sullivan said. "He’s learning how to take advantage when kids play him a certain way. He’s doing it as it comes. He’s learning as he goes.
"His first step has gotten better. Now he’s attacking from the left and right side which makes him more dangerous than he was before. He’s getting stronger. He’s got game smarts, and players around him are getting better. It’s amazing to see what he can do on the field."
Yetter was pleased with what the Cougars were able to accomplish this season, particularly after making the jump to the Bianchi and with advancing to and winning their first county final.
"I thought the team had a huge year," Yetter said. "We proved ourselves. We moved up a division and people were skeptical of what we would do. We showed we were a good team. We showed teams can’t take us lightly."
Certainly no one is taking Yetter lightly. This season was his third as the leading scorer for the Cougars, who now have plenty of weapons around him, including second leading scorer, Mike Yetter, Jim’s younger brother. Jim Yetter, however, will always own a special place in MHS lacrosse history because of how he’s raised the level of the program.
"It’s having someone set the standards," Sullivan said, "and Jimmy has been that person for the last three years, for what I expect Montgomery attackmen to look like. He still has one more year to raise that standard and I think he likes that challenge. There are a lot of kids on his heels. It starts with a player like that.
"When Mike’s a senior, I know he wants to be the leading goal-scorer. Our records are being developed. In years and years to come, they’re going to be broken. But I don’t know if we’re going to have another four-year leading scorer. Jim’s goal standards, besides his brother, it’s going to be hard for anyone to catch."
Yetter downplays his record-setting goal-scoring, saying: "My job is to score. If I set records, that’s great. That (scoring) is my job. JI just do it like everybody else does theirs."
Yetter started playing lacrosse in seventh grade. By eighth grade, he and his brother Mike were constantly working to get better and Yetter was beginning to show some real promise at the offensive end.
"I played defense in hockey," the elder Yetter said. "When I got there, they wanted me to play defense in lacrosse. I wanted to be on other end, trying to score. In hockey, I do all the dirty work. I just wanted a change and just stuck with it."
Yetter gets better the more he plays. And he just starting to see the higher level of play it will take to play after high school. It’s helped that he’s bringing his teammates along for the ride.
"He’s the first real lacrosse player we had," Sullivan said. "He’s been able to do it on own. I truly don’t believe he’s hit his potential yet."
This year Yetter grew better at adjusting to defenses geared to stop him. He was better about communicating with teammates about how to break down opposing defenses. Those defenses were stronger this year in the better division, but they still had difficulty stopping Yetter and the Cougars.
"From last year, moving up a division, it’s definitely different," Yetter said. "Slides come from different areas. You have to adjust. You learn how to. You have to learn how to attack better defenses. You learn how to attack it, and how to adjust to it.
"We learn from watching the game, from watching higher levels and doing what they do," he added. "Then when you get out there, you learn more how to attack defenses."
Yetter’s biggest value to the Cougars might be his ability to share his wealth of experience and information with his teammates. It’s a key to continuing to grow the MHS boys’ program.
"If you can pass down and share what you know to other kids in the program, the program is going to get stronger and stronger," Sullivan said. "We’ve come a long way in the past two years. He’s a big factor."
Yetter doesn’t expect the progress to end after one solid season in the Bianchi Division. He still has one more season to lift expectations for the Cougars, just as he maintains high standards for himself.
"I have to keep up the good work and I have to push myself," he said. "You don’t accept what you have. Don’t be happy with mediocrity. For the team, don’t be happy. We still have to move up another division. There’s still good lacrosse we can play."
Yetter certainly figures to be in the middle of any improvements the Cougars make. He’ll be a captain next year along with Sean Hover, another lacrosse player who also excels at ice hockey.
There’s no doubt, however, which sport Jim Yetter is leaning toward as he prepares for his final year at Montgomery High.
"My motivation has been just being in the lacrosse atmosphere, watching college teams play, it just makes you want to play," Yetter said. "Lacrosse gives you that feeling. It makes you want to play."