Little Tigers lacrosse advances in MCT
By: Bob Nuse
Allegra Formento likes the fact that she’s one of several players on the Princeton High girls’ lacrosse team with the ability to score goals.
While Formento leads the team with 33 goals, there are five other Little Tigers who have scored at least 13 goals. That sort of balanced offense will come in handy in the first-ever Mercer County Tournament, which began on Saturday with six first-round games.
Princeton got off to a good start in the tournament, as the fourth-seeded Little Tigers topped No. 13 seed Ewing, 18-3. With the win, Princeton advanced to face fifth-seeded Hun, which topped West Windsor-Plainsboro South, 24-5, in its opening-round game. The game will be played at Princeton at 4:15 p.m. today.
In other games involving Packet-area teams on Saturday, WW-P North topped Lawrence, 17-4, and Stuart topped Notre Dame, 13-10. Princeton Day School, the No. 1 seed in the tournament, had a first-round bye.
In today’s quarterfinals, WW-P North will play at Allentown, while PDS will host Stuart. Hightstown will play at Hopewell in the other quarterfinal.
Princeton used the same sort of balanced offense that it has used all year in the win over Ewing. Elizabeth Haughton and Sarah Wright each scored four goals, while Formento and Rebecca Schild scored three goals apiece.
"It definitely makes it more fun to know that we have so many different players that can score," said Formento, who also has 16 assists this season. "We don’t rely on one person and that makes it tougher for the defenses we play against. I think we’ve shown in the games that we’ve played that we have a lot of players that can score, and that makes it real hard for the defense."
Since an early-season trip to Florida where it suffered two losses, Princeton has won nine of its last 11 games. The two losses have come against the top two seeds in the MCT, PDS and Hopewell Valley.
In each game, Princeton has used the same balanced offense that helped it have a good season last year.
"If one player doesn’t get the finishing done, we go to someone else," Princeton coach Joyce Jones said. "So we have a very balanced attack. We had one game earlier this year where the other team marked Allegra and tried to shut her off, so we had other players who did the scoring. We have a nice balanced attack all the way through the midfield.
"And our defense has really come along nicely with Mie (Graham), Carly (Edgcomb) and the younger players we have in the back."
With the combination of a nice balanced offense and a good defense, Princeton could make a run at the MCT title.
"Our defense has played great," Formento said. "Mie, Mary McNutt, Isabella (Formento), we’re really lucky to have so many good players on defense. Some teams have a strength that is with their attack or some are just strong on defense. We feel like we’re strong all over the field and that is a real advantage for us.
"We’re excited for the chance to play Hun because we were supposed to play in the regular season and the game was cancelled. And our game against them last year was also cancelled. We know they are a real good team and we’re looking forward to playing them."
With Princeton, Formento will be called on to do her part, but not to try to do everything. The Little Tigers aren’t that sort of team, which probably has a great deal to do with their success.
"I really enjoy getting to play on offense and defense," Formento said. "I get to transition from attack to midfield to defense, which makes it so I get to run all over. I love being a part of every part of the field. It’s a fun position to play."
And a fun team to be a part of. As much as Formento likes to win for the sake of winning, she’d also like to see her team win just to keep the season going as long as possible.
"This is a fun team to be a part of," Formento said. "We came into the season losing no seniors from last year, so we had the whole team back. And then we added some good new players. We all get along really well. We want to keep winning as much as we can in this tournament and the state tournament so that we can keep playing together and have more opportunities to hang out together off the field.
"We’re all very excited about the county tournament. We thought there might be a tournament last year, but it didn’t happen. So this year we’re excited to be a part of the first tournament. There are a lot of good teams in the county and it should be a great tournament."
It won’t be an easy road for Princeton. If it does manage to get past Hun, the two teams waiting ahead could be the two they’ve lost to in New Jersey this season. But Princeton seems poised to do well, with its balanced offense and a stingy defense.
"Our goalie, Erin (Hoerner), has done a good job in goal," Jones said. "She had a real good game against PDS where she stopped a number of 1v1 shots where their player was right there and Erin made the save."
In the other games on Saturday, Erika Depeltauu’s five goals lifted WW-P North past Lawrence, 17-4. Katie Cummins added three goals in the win. Stuart avenged a loss two days earlier and topped Notre Dame, 13-10. Eleanor Hayes-Larson, Elizabeth Bucklee and Caroline Passano each scored three goals for the Tartans. Hun topped WW-P South, 24-5, as Sarah Appelt scored seven goals and Suzanne Arnold added four goals.