Princeton Packet Athlete of the Week

Mostoller helps PHS silence CBA

By: Justin Feil
   Jesse Mostoller and the Princeton High School boys’ lacrosse team defense have a pretty ambitious goal.
   "Our goal was for the defense to only let in four goals a game," said the Little Tigers junior. "On an average, for the whole season, I think it’s possible."
   That goal seemed to take a serious hit when Christian Brothers Academy jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first quarter against PHS on Saturday. It didn’t look any better when the Little Tigers fell behind, 5-1, less than a minute into the second quarter, but Mostoller never panicked.
   "I wasn’t worried at all," he said. "Even when they had their first goal in the first 15 seconds, I wasn’t really worried. It was that one guy. He was their whole offense. Even when it was 4-0, I wasn’t too worried. Everyone was too pumped up to let it get out of our hands."
   Mostoller led a Little Tigers defense that was playing without its top defender, Taylor Vicker-Annis, that stiffened at that point. PHS did not allow another CBA goal as they stormed back for a 6-5 win to open the season.
   Jesse Mostoller is the Princeton Packet Athlete of the Week.
   "They had a player who scored four goals on us the first five minutes of the game," said PHS head coach Peter Stanton, whose team beat Lawrence, 18-1, Tuesday. "We gave up a man-up goal to fall behind a minute into the second quarter. We were in a serious funk. Jesse was basically our constant steady guy that held us together in the back.
   "They scored less than a minute into the second quarter. From that point on, they didn’t score again. We held them scoreless for over 35 minutes. What it was, we were nervous, we were tentative. Jesse just has a cool demeanor about him. He’s the guy in the defense that’s aware of what the other defenders have to do. He’s our real leader back there."
   Stanton has confidence going into every game because Mostoller is such a strong defender. He’s been playing for three years — as a longstick midfielder freshman year before moving back to defense last season. With Vicker-Annis out due to a shoulder injury, Mostoller did his best to keep the PHS defense strong.
   "Coach (Dave) Pietramala from Hopkins gave a talk," Stanton said. "He said, to play defense well, you need to have that one guy in the back that’s sort of a quarterback for you. That’s Jesse. He understands team defense.
   "Taylor Vickers-Annis is still hurt. We were playing with a couple other guys that are less experienced — Chad Pinto, who is playing in place of Taylor, and Chris Bleach and Christian McCracken. Christian is only playing lacrosse for his second year. Chris Bleach is a senior but seeing significant time for the first time. We needed the help of leaders and Jesse did that for us."
   Mostoller has had to make a change without Vicker-Annis there. He did so without missing a beat, and it may ultimately make the Little Tigers even better in the long run.
   "Usually Taylor gets the No. 1 guy, and Casey (Rhan) gets the next guy. I always get the best off-ball guy. I covered Evan Sullivan from Lawrenceville last year, and he had the most points in the area. I did well against him. Now that Taylor’s gone, I’m not covering the off-ball guy. I’m guarding man-to-man. It got me better at man-to-man.
   "I think Taylor is going to go back to playing the other team’s best attack man. Playing with the best attack men has gotten me to get a lot better. I definitely improved my one-on-one capability. I’ll be able to use that this season."
   With Vicker-Annis due back for next week’s games, Mostoller can return to his natural position. Stanton is expecting that he’ll continue to be a leader for the Little Tigers as he uses his experience and developing skills.
   "He played very well last year," Stanton said. "He’s gotten stronger. He’s gotten faster. His skills have improved. We usually like to have him play crease if the other team has an offense that’s good.
   "He can play the ball behind. He plays well on the ball. He plays well off ball. He’s one of the better guys we’ve had back there. It requires a combination of really good perception. It’s almost like personality is one of the ingredients. He’s not a rah-rah in-your-face guy. But he’s very alert."
   Mostoller tuned up for this season by playing indoor lacrosse, lifting weights and he also ran cross country for the Little Tigers again last fall. He is proud to be a part of a defense that he thinks will be one of the best in the state. It’s the finest collection of talent he’s played with at PHS.
   "It was the best last year," he said. "This year, we’re a little more experienced. We all have not just the experience of getting better, but the experience of playing with each other. Last year was the first year for me playing a lot with Taylor. I’ve been playing with Casey since sixth grade.
   "I think the defense is going to have a big role," he added. "I definitely think we’re one of the stronger aspects of the team. I think our offense has really improved. Of three years I’ve been playing, this is the best offense I’ve seen. I think the offense will be bigger part of the success this year."
   Brandon Polakoff had three goals to lead the Little Tigers’ offense over CBA. Having both a stronger offense and defense helps alleviate pressure at both ends of the field for PHS. The Little Tigers are looking to build on their fast start at Notre Dame on Friday. For Mostoller and the defense, that means another challenge to their pre-season goal.
   "They’re going to be some teams like Lawrenceville where that’s going to be hard to do," Mostoller said. "If we play our best defense, I think our defense could hold just about every other team to four goals, give or take a goal. We have the capability to hold teams to no goals at all."
   For 35 minutes, CBA saw that in the season opener. It was just the sort of start that Jesse Mostoller and the Little Tiger boys were looking for to make a statement.