Raider boys top PHS to gain MCT finals berth
By: Bob Nuse
It isn’t often a goal is scored 10 seconds into a soccer game.
And on an occasion when that does happen, you would not expect that goal to stand up for the remaining 79 minutes, 50 seconds. But Wednesday night, Andrew Mino scored 10 seconds into the game, and it was the only goal the Hun School boys’ soccer team would need.
The Raiders used that goal to top Princeton, 1-0, in the Mercer County Tournament semifinals at Mercer County Park. And with the with, the second-seeded Raiders advanced to tonight’s MCT final, where they will face top-seeded Notre Dame at 7:30 p.m. at Mercer County Community College.
"Scoring that early, nobody is used to being up 1-0 that early in the game," said Hun coach Chris Kingston, whose team improved to 12-1-1 with the win. "I actually think that often can hurt a team. We just had to get out of the first half without giving up a goal and we did, but I think we were lucky to do so.
"I don’t think scoring early necessarily helps your team because my team was confident coming in. I think it could help if you’re not confident coming in. In hindsight, it helped because it was the only goal of the game. That’s rare for a goal to be scored the first 10 seconds into the game."
Mino’s goal gave the Raiders an early lead, but for most of the remainder of the first half, third-seeded Princeton dominated play. In fact, the Little Tigers had chance after chance, but could not convert.
"It was characteristic of a game where there is a goal scored early and sometimes that can hurt a team," said Princeton coach Wayne Sutcliffe, whose team fell to 11-3 with the loss. "Sometimes it can help a team. I like the way we responded. I’m not happy about the way we came out, but I am happy about the way we responded to it.
"I’ve seen it happen before as a player and a coach. Sometimes it can be bad for a team. In this game, after they scored, I felt like we dominated for the next 30 to 40 minutes. When you have 10 chances in the first half and you just don’t convert, it makes it hard to play catch-up."
Princeton held a 10-3 shot advantage at halftime, but it was Hun that converted one of its chances for the lead. From that point, it was up to Hun’s defense to hold the lead.
"They’re very good up top and not an easy team to defend against," Hun defender Thomas Nicholas said. "We picked it up as the game went on. In the beginning we were lucky to score a goal, but I think we were on the back foot for about another 10 to 15 minutes. Luckily, Ryan Kreger, Mike Azzara and Jake O’Donnell in the back, they played really well. Jelani (Rooks) was causing trouble for them and that opened up gaps for other players on the team. It was a good day for the team in general."
The Raiders needed every break they could get to hold off Princeton, which had scored 21 goals in its last four games.
"Even though we were the No. 2 seed, I felt like the underdog coming in here," Kingston said. "We’ve been tested, but we haven’t been tested like Princeton has. I’m not saying that I wasn’t confident, I just had the feeling that they were a real good team and they were. We were lucky to be up, 1-0, at halftime.
"They missed a couple of point-blank shots. But I thought we did all right in the second half. I thought we controlled the game a little better. Any time the game is 1-0 in the second half with two good teams, the last 10 minutes you are going to be in your end no matter what happens. That is inevitable in a 1-0 soccer game."
The Little Tigers’ Ross MacDonald and Sam Kotowski had combined for 31 goals coming into the game, but Hun was able to hold the pair without a goal. It was the first time this season the Little Tigers failed to score in a game.
"Sam Kotowski is a good friend of mine," said Nicholas, a Metuchen resident. "I’ve been playing with and against him for a while. We knew what they had. We knew their center-midfielder was extremely talented and our plan was to try to settle that down and work as the game went on. We were fortunate to get an early goal and we built on that. Before the game, I would not have thought it would be 1-0.
"We’ve faced a lot of adversity. Matt Sanford, who is a captain and has played for four year, broke his foot in the first game. That was a setback but we battled through it and just kept going. It should be a really good game with Notre Dame and we’ll try to make the best of it."
Princeton still has plenty to play for after the loss. The Little Tigers will face Lawrence today and still have a makeup game against Notre Dame. They need at least a tie in either game to win the CVC Patriot Division. Princeton will also begin play in the Central Jersey Group III tournament next week.
On this night, the Little Tigers just came up a bit short when they could not convert their chances.
"It’s all about denying at one end and trying to capitalize at the other," Sutcliffe said. "It was a great battle and had a lot of the elements of a good soccer game. I felt like the game would have been better showcased on turf, like the other semifinal game. I don’t think it was a huge factor in the game, but it was a factor when you have two possession oriented teams."
In MCT boys’ consolation play, West Windsor-Plainsboro North ended its season with a 3-1 win over Trenton on Wednesday. Jared Mangone scored two goals and assisted on the other as the Knights finished 8-10-1 on the season.
WW-P South topped Nottingham, 8-1, in a game on Tuesday. Jon Scheer led the Pirates with three goals as they improved to 9-7-2 heading into the CJ IV tournament next week. The Pirates will play at Jackson at 2 p.m. on Tuesday.

