Johnston enjoys turn-around that she helped contribute to

By: Rich Fisher
   JAMESBURG — After Princeton’s 2-1 victory over Monroe in Monday’s Central Jersey Group III tournament game, junior midfielder Olivia Johnston was discussing how exciting things were this season after a four-win year in 2005.
   The Cranbury resident was asked to describe how miserable it was last year, but the question was quickly retracted in an effort to say that "miserable" might be too strong of a word.
   Johnston wouldn’t hear of it.
   "Oh no, it was miserable," she said. "We were a much better team than our record showed. All of our losses were like, 2-1."
   The junior fullback then conceded that it might not have been all that bad. Still, it was nothing compared to this season.
   "Well, maybe it wasn’t exactly miserable, but it was definitely an unfortunate season," she said. "Coming back this year and winning twice as many games as last year, this was a dream come true. Especially since it’s my junior year. Now I have something to look forward to next year."
   Johnston still had something to look forward to this year, as the Little Tigers had a second-round game against Freehold Boro to play on Thursday.
   No matter what happened in that game, it can not take away the joy Princeton felt this season after going 4-11 in 2005. The Little Tigers were 10-7-1 after their win over Monroe.
   "This team’s incredible," Johnston said. "I love every one of these girls on the team. We all love the sport, everybody wants it.
   "Coming back from a 4-11 season, this is what I dreamed about. This is the first year we made it past the first round of states since I’ve been here. It’s remarkable."
   Coach Greg Hand felt the improvement of this year’s squad might have been as much mental as it was physical.
   "The kids worked hard last year and they worked hard this year," Hand said. "They’re ecstatic. They were able to solve challenges this year more successfully than they did last year.
   "This idea of getting to know your team, getting to know how your teammates play, is often underrated. These girls have learned to talk and learned to know where to go and how to defend and attack together. We had a rough middle-season, but we went on to have some good games at the end."
   A big reason for the Little Tigers improvement has been the inspired defensive play of Johnston. After playing her at forward and outside midfield her first two years on varsity, the PHS coaches decided to move her to left fullback this season.
   "Olivia is doing a terrific job for us in the back right now," Hand said. "She’s always been a contributor. We’ve played her more places than we have anyone else on the team, and what we found is that she’s just one of the most tenacious, well balanced defenders we’ve seen in a long time.
   "I think it was maybe a three-year mistake on our part, not to have found a spot where she could contribute the most for our team."
   Thus, the obvious question is, why was she finally moved to the back?
   "We needed her speed," Hand said. "And the fact that game after game, she would have five or six occasions where she closed on a play or kept her balance. She tackled at just the right time and completed a play for us."
   "The writing was on the wall," Hand added with a smile. "We just weren’t reading it."
   The writing is still there, in big bold letters — W-I-N-N-E-R-S.