By Bob Nuse, The Packet Group
Wayne Sutcliffe is glad the Mercer County Tournament is over, especially since his team came away with its second championship in four years.
”We need a break,” said the Princeton High coach, whose team improved to 17-0 with a 1-0 win over Steinert on Friday night at Mercer County Community College. “We were fortunate enough to get a bye (in the state tournament). I think we need a little bit of a break. It’s a relief.
”It’s been a great run. They know how to play and they know how to play under adversity. They’ve proven that every single game. They have what it takes to win several championships and today was the second one. And now we’re going for the third.”
Having already secured CVC Patriot Division and MCT titles, the Little Tigers begin play in the Central Jersey Group III tournament today (Friday) as the No. 1 seed. Princeton will host Neptune, which defeated Lawrence, at 2 p.m.
The Little Tigers will do so as MCT champs, having squeezed past Steinert just two days after a shootout win over the Hun School in the semifinals. The lone goal of the game came when junior Corey Marsh scored off a quick pass from Diego Reniero on a re-start just outside the box.
”I just took a rip,” said Cranbury’s Marsh, who has scored two goals this season. “It was kind of wet and our ‘keeper (Steven Hellstern) told me he was having some problems catching the ball and he needed to punch some out. So I just took a rip and it went in. It’s not a set play. We just tried to do everything quick tonight. So I tried to sneak around back of them. I called for it and I got it. It was just a little bit of communication.”
The win sends the Little Tigers into the post-season with an unbeaten record and needing five more wins to complete a perfect season. For some teams, having the burden of carrying a perfect season into the postseason would be unwanted pressure. But that hasn’t been the case for this Princeton team.
”We want to be undefeated,” said Marsh, who scored the clinching goal in Wednesday’s win over Hun. “We don’t feel any extra pressure than we would have if we had 10 losses. We want to win everything. We came in here and just wanted to do our job and that’s what we did.
”Hun and Steinert are definitely two of the top teams in the area, if not the state. So they were both tough games for us to win.”
Once Marsh had given Princeton the lead, the defense took care of its business. Hellstern finished with nine saves, at least three of which were of the spectacular variety. And the Little Tiger defenders kept the high-powered Spartan offense in check.
”We really wanted to put another one in after we scored because Steinert is a great team and they’re awesome at set pieces,” Marsh said. “They’re dangerous in the air and they have some big guys. But our defense held them down and did a good job.
”The other night we scored and then within 20 seconds, Hun scored. So we were extra careful about that. We tried to clear the ball out and not concede a goal for at least five minutes after we scored. That was the key, I think.”
Having Cranbury’s Hellstern in goal also helps. He’s given the Little Tigers stability at the position after the graduation of Jason Barber left the position open heading into this season.
”He just plays beyond his years,” Sutcliffe said. “He approaches the game not like a 16-year-old. He approaches it like a professional player, really. He’s very focused and very talented. He is without question, the man of the match tonight.”
Having a one-goal lead to work with helped. And that came courtesy of Marsh, who has a knack for making a big play.
”That’s an example of Corey being a heads up player,” Sutcliffe said. “And also our guys around the ball also being heads up players and very experienced. It’s a players’ game. You can’t call a time out and run a set piece. So you have to trust the players and Corey is an intelligent player.
”Corey is a very smart player. He has a great soccer brain. He’s very bright, but he also has a great soccer brain.”
Now Marsh and his teammates will look to close out the season with one more title. It would be fitting for a group of players who have been together since they first started playing the sport.
”A bunch of these guys have been playing together on travel teams since they were 7 years old,” Marsh said. “We have a bunch of guys on Princeton Union ‘90 who won the State Cup this year, specifically the defense. And it is extra special for us to win championships in club and high school.
”Some of us, we played for the Cranbury Rangers way back, when we were about 8 years old. That was a lot of fun and we’ve just been playing together ever since, which is awesome. Hopefully we have five more games. We have a bye the first round of states and then five tough games. They’re all going to be tough. It’s not the end of the season.”
And after resting up for a few days, the Little Tigers will get a chance to make that run at one more title.
