By Rich Fisher, Sports Editor
If you live in Cranbury, the beauty of the Princeton High School boys soccer team is that your hometown is well represented at both ends of the field.
Most of Mercer County now knows about the scoring exploits of Sam Kotowski and Kyle DeBlois.
But equally important is what’s going on at the other end, where sophomore goalie Steven Hellstern had notched 11 shutouts in Princeton’s 15-0 start entering Wednesday’s Mercer County Tournament semifinal game with Hun.
Hellstern is actually one of three Cranbury residents who have varsity goalkeeping jobs in Mercer this year, as Matt Lennon is a back-up for Peddie and Wade Copeland has started several games for Hun.
”It’s sort of interesting how that worked out,” Hellstern said. “It’s kind of like, Cranbury is Goalie Town.”
If that’s the case, Hellstern is the current mayor, as he has enjoyed an outstanding season this year.
So good, in fact, that Princeton coach Wayne Sutcliffe says “I can’t say there’s a flaw in his game.”
With that, the coach recited a laundry list of strengths that makes Hellstern sound like a cross between Tim Howard and Tony Meola, with a little Shep Messing thrown in (for you old-timers).
”Number one, he’s really talented,” the coach said. “He’s got great technique. He has great hands, he dives well. He’s good in the air, he distributes the ball well, commands the box well. He can stop breakaways, he’s got good feet.”
That’s it? Nothing about how sharp he dresses?
Obviously, Hellstern has impressed Sutcliffe, but the coach knew all about the keeper in his pre-high school days.
”Before he even got to Princeton, we knew about his club level experience and his ability,” Sutcliffe said. “We had him on the team as a freshman last year, with the full intention of him being the favorite to win the job this year.”
Hellstern’s career in the nets began at age 10 with the Manalapan Red Storm club team.
”I used to play defense, but my team needed a back-up goalie,” Hellstern said. “I loved it so much, I just wanted to stay there.”
He stayed at the same position, but hardly stood still in terms of making improvements. Hellstern got into hard core club play with the LSTS Soccer Club, and also competed for the Cranbury School. But during his first two years he was behind Clint O’Brien and Lennon before assuming the starting job in 8th grade.
When he arrived at PHS, Jason Barber was the starting goalie. Hellstern played on the JV team but was on the bench for most varsity game and actually got into a few contests.
”I sat on the bench for every game during the playoffs, and I started getting the feeling of what it felt like to be in such big games,” Hellstern said. “Even though I wasn’t playing, I got the feeling of what it was like. It sort of introduced me to it, but it didn’t give me the whole deal. You actually have to play to understand that.”
Hellstern tried to understand it even better when he upgraded his club play, going from LSTS to the Princeton Union 90.
”I moved up a year, it was harder competition and I felt confident I could play with that competition,” he said. “It was the same level as high school, so coming into the high school season, it was like an extension of club season.”
”He had a great club season,” Sutcliffe said. “Union 90 won the New Jersey State Cup and went to regional semifinals and did quite well.
”So, we knew that from the end of the season last year, going into this season, he played a lot of games and more importantly he played in a lot of big games. He had two good goalies in front of him last year (including Cranbury’s Jeff Adiletta) and he learned from both of them.”
Hellstern is the first to admit that a stingy defense has helped him immeasurably this year. But he notes that sometimes, that can be a curse.
”That’s a big problem for goalies,” he said. “You have two saves to make during a game, and if you don’t make those two saves, it’s bad. I just try to keep concentrating.”
So far, his concentration has been nearly flawless.
Then again, when you’re the Mayor of Goalie Town, there’s no time to ease up.
