Confident crew claims CJ III final

By: Bob Nuse
   With each win, the Princeton High boys’ soccer team got more and more confident.
   That confidence never wavered as the Little Tigers topped Monroe, 2-1, to capture the Central Jersey Group III championship on Friday.
   "We’ve had a great run," said Princeton coach Wayne Sutcliffe, whose team won its second sectional title in his tenure as head coach, with the other coming in 2003. "And with each win we’ve played really effectively different ways. We’ve come from behind, like the other day against Long Branch. We’ve been able to play effectively when we’re ahead. And when we have relinquished the lead, we always come back.
   "So the confidence has built from the beginning of the season with that. We were behind against St. Joe’s in a scrimmage, 2-0, and we won that game, 3-2. Ever since then this has been a confident team."
   With the win over Monroe, Princeton advanced to the Group III state semifinals, where it suffered a 1-0 loss to Shawnee (see related story).
   Throughout their run in the CJ III tournament, the Little Tigers have shown they can win any number of ways. They jumped out early and topped Neptune in their opener, 5-1. Against Hopewell, the defense didn’t allow a goal in a 2-0 shutout win. The defense also shut down Long Branch after an early goal in a game Princeton would win, 2-1. The against Monroe, two goals were again enough as the defense played another stellar game.
   "Everybody in the whole defensive line has been getting more confident," said goalkeeper Jason Barber, who made eight saves in the win over Monroe. "In the beginning of the year we started a little shaky, but we didn’t give up any goals for five games. But we were still a little shaky. The whole end half of the year we have really come out and been playing great and a lot more confident in one another."
   Princeton took a 1-0 lead in the first half against Monroe on a goal by Cranbury’s Ross MacDonald off a nice assist from Cranbury’s Sam Kotowski. In the second half, the Little Tigers extended the lead when a mistake in the back allowed Javier Ramirez to break free for a goal that made the lead 2-0.
   "The second goal was huge," said Sutcliffe, whose team improved to 16-3 with the win. "We were thinking about adjusting Javier out high, and he just got to the ball first. He’s a great target guy. He’s not a striker. We just had him up there as a slight adjustment and that was a big factor. He has the ability to go to the goal and do that kind of a thing."
   As big as the second goal was in giving Princeton a cushion to play with, the first goal did wonders to add confidence to an already confident team.
   "The first goal for us really gets us going and playing harder," Barber said. "If we can get that, we have so much confidence in our defense that we can hold the other team down. The whole group has really come together the second half of the year. We all work great together and it helps out so much as a goalie knowing that you have a solid set of defenders in front of you."
   Princeton’s win delighted the large crowd, which had a chance to watch the Little Tigers play the championship game on their home field. It’s a field that has served the team well this season.
   "These guys were freshmen when this field was put in," Sutcliffe said of the PHS turf. "They have trained on it and played on it for four years. It’s a familiar environment. Clearly, it was an advantage today. (Monroe) plays on turf, but to host a championship final really adds a new dynamic to your team’s emotion and I thought that played a big role."
   Another key to the win was the leadership of a senior class that could sense this would be a special season. And each of the seniors played a role in the win that gave Princeton the sectional title.
   "In the beginning of the season I knew it would be tough, but I also knew this year could be our year," Barber said. "A lot of us are seniors — Mike Lynch, Peter Miller, Alex Filipiak, Casey (Rahn) and Ross — we all knew this was going to be a really good year. We have been playing a long time together. And we also have a good group of sophomores and juniors. They all play well. I knew potentially we could go this far, but we would really have to work for it."