Junior scores pair in girls’ victory
By Bob Nuse, The Packet Group
Hannah Davis doesn’t like to think too much about her freshman year with the Princeton High girls’ soccer team.
It was a rare down season for the Little Tigers, who won just four times with a roster full of young players. Those players were a little older a year ago when Princeton finished 10-7-1. And now, as a junior, Davis can see big things in store for the Little Tigers.
”We’ve been working really hard in preseason and I could tell soon after the first week that we were going to be a really strong team this year,” said Davis, who scored a pair of goals as Princeton opened the season with a 5-0 win over Lawrence on Friday. “So we came into this game with high expectations for ourselves knowing the way we could play.
”My freshman year was a rough season. But each year we build on it and hopefully this will be the best one yet.”
Princeton showed a diverse offensive attack in its opening win, as Hannah Demming, Carly Edgcomb and Mie Graham also scored goals to back a defense that allowed few Lawrence chances on goal.
”We were a better team last year than the year before,” Davis said. “We all came in this year in pretty good shape and when you’re in shape, you can work off of that and build off of that. We also all came in with a really positive attitude after ending last season on a high note. After last season’s last game, that carried over with our positive attitude.
”We have a strong attacking core. Chantal (Celestin) has a beautiful shot. Hannah Demming, Mie, Paula (Levine), all the forwards have been working hard together and as we play more together, the goals will keep coming.”
Davis scored just three goals as a sophomore, but already appears to be on her way to surpassing that total this year. With so many dangerous players on the offensive end, marking just one Princeton player is something a defense can’t do with confidence.
”On my club team I play more midfield,” Davis said. “I played forward for PHS last season, but didn’t seem to get the goals. But I think this year with the system we’re playing and the strength we have up top, the goals will come easier this year than they did last year.
”With the whole team we have so much depth that there is no one that you wouldn’t want playing with you. All the girls are such good players and we have so much depth.”
That depth could be the difference between Princeton being a good team and a really good team. The Little Tigers got everyone on the field Friday and never saw the level of play drop.
”We’re trying to learn to play the ball quickly and to learn to see more of the field,” Princeton coach Greg Hand said. “We want to make sure we know what is going on before we play the ball and that seems to be helping us. We still have a number of things to work on and we will continue to work on them. But the effort was complete today. Individual responsibility was great and communication was pretty good.”
And the offense was balanced, making Princeton a dangerous team.
”We’re essentially running two different looks and trying to make sure everyone understands what to do when they’re in there,” Hand said. “Hopefully we can continue to create chances and persevere.”