Johnston enjoys defense as long as it helps the Little Tigers
By Justin Feil, The Packet Group
Moving back from a goal-scoring position to a defensive position doesn’t sound inviting, but Olivia Johnston was willing to do anything to help the Princeton High School girls’ soccer team.
”Going into high school, I had never played defense before,” said the PHS senior. “I never set my heart to getting good at it. I went into high school mainly as a forward. When I found out they were going to put me back on defense, that’s when I set my mind to it. I wanted to get as good as I could to help my team out.”
Johnston and the Little Tigers defense limited the chances as the seventh-seeded Little Tigers topped No. 10 West Windsor-Plainsboro North, 2-0, Saturday in the Mercer County Tournament first round. The teams tied, 1-1, in their regular-season meeting.
”We just knew a lot more about them,” Johnston said. “We have girls that play on a travel team with some of their girls. We wanted to win really, really badly.
”Mainly the thing we felt coming out of that last game, it was almost like you were so close and couldn’t get it. Last time we played them, maybe it wasn’t our day. Today was definitely our day.”
The win advanced PHS to a quarterfinal game at second-seeded Steinert, where they dropped a 5-0 decision without the services of midfielder Carly Edgcomb.
But there is still the state tournament on the horizon, and PHS will join in that fun as well as they continue to improve.
”The girls have been working a lot on finding ways to get crosses off first of all and trying to improve the quality of our crosses,” said PHS head coach Greg Hand. “That’s come a long way. Second of all, all season long we’ve been working on trying to improve finishing, one touch and two touch. They’re getting better at it incrementally. We had some good chances today and some fine goals.”
It wasn’t so long ago that Johnston was one of the forwards trying to finish the goals. Now she is trying to prevent them in front of goalie Mary McNutt, who stopped seven shots against WW-PN.
”O.J. has been a four-year starter,” Hand said. “She has had as diverse a career as you could have. She played up top her entire first year, sort of a mixture of forward and midfield in her second, then a mixture of midfield and defense last year. This year, she’s been all defense.
”I think it took us as coaches far too long to realize this is her real aptitude as a soccer player. She has great touch. When she wins a ball, she can help us build an attack. Her real talent is balance, very quick readjustment to the things cagey players do that’s coupled with as much tenacity as in anyone you’ll ever see. More often than not, when we have a particular player that needs shadowed, we’ll assign her to that player.”
Not fun times for an opposing forward, but Johnston has taken to her new assignment.
”I’ve actually enjoy it,” she said. “When I was a forward, I couldn’t connect with the team and the team wasn’t able to find me. Then, they moved me back to midfield and I was able to connect with them. I managed to find my spot on defense, and I’ve been able to connect with my team last year and this year. I enjoy defense a lot.
”I miss getting all the goals, but I absolutely love closing in on people and taking the ball away from people. I absolutely love that.”
Hand likes the energy and enthusiasm he is getting from a senior leader in the back. He was impressed with what he saw Saturday as the Little Tigers improved on their tie with North.
”I think the games were really similar to each other,” he said. “We found a way to get a couple today. It was a physical, hard-played game. I really appreciated the work rate on our side and the fact the girls after talking to each other at the half, were a little more connected in the second half.”
Johnston was happy to be part of a defensive unit that kept the Knights off the board. She hopes to compete in track and field in college next year. She was thrilled that her final try at a MCT field hockey crown began with a hard-fought win.
”North is a very good team,” Johnston said. “They’re strong. I was nervous. I wasn’t pleased to see we had North. Their goalie is Lily Pepper, who’s an unbelievable goalie. Every time you go to shoot, she’s always there. I definitely respect North.
”The fact we won today, this win was better than most wins. We haven’t beaten North all throughout my high school career. We’ve lost to them. We’ve tied them. We never beat them. The fact we were able to beat them, especially in my senior year, makes me so happy.”