WW-P North falls to HoVal, 1-0
By: Justin Feil, Assistant Sports Editor
The Princeton High School girls’ soccer team looked impressive in its state tournament opener to set up a rematch of last year’s finale for the Little Tigers.
West Windsor-Plainsboro North also played well in its first-round game, but the Central Jersey Group III No. 11 seed couldn’t come with a goal to at least force overtime against No. 6 Hopewell in a 1-0 loss Monday.
Seventh-seeded PHS ended the finest season in a decade for No. 10 Hamilton, 4-0, in the first round of the CJ III tournament Monday. Both teams ended the game with 10 wins.
”They played lot of CVC teams tough,” said PHS head coach Greg Hand, whose side improved to 10-4-1. “They were having a really good season. We missed our regular season game with them. We didn’t know much at all.
”It was one of the team’s best days as far as tough consistent defense and coordinated ball movement. The attitude was right. There was a lot of talk. They were working hard to support each other. There were pretty long periods of the game when the play was developing pretty easily just because the kids were in good spots.”
The win set up a rematch of last year’s quarterfinal against Freehold Boro, scheduled for Thursday. Freehold was a narrow 1-0 winner last season and returns many of their impact players. The Little Tigers will be looking to turn the tables on the second-seeded Colonials. PHS built momentum for the rematch with goals from four different players Monday, including a goal and assist apiece from Hannah Deming and Hannah Davis.
”I think the girls have been playing with a sense of urgency all year long,” Hand said. “It’s really admirable. From the first day of preseason, it’s been a great team to work with. What was great today was there was the right balance. There was a lot of excitement, but also composure. The kids worked very hard to win balls and keep possession today. When we had it, I think we were just a little more calm and effective than we have been in some other games.”
Unfortunately for WW-P North, they played a lot like they have all year. Very well, but not quite well enough to win. They finished their season 7-6-3.
”We played really well,” said Knights head coach Kevin Mackenzie. “We played a good game. We just didn’t get that one goal. We definitely had some chances. I thought for maybe three-quarters of game, we had the better of the play. The last 15 minutes, they turned it on. They dominated. They came at us. We had some chances. For the most part, we were one pass away. We couldn’t get that ball. They had that break and we didn’t.
”We knew it was a tough draw. It was a very tough game to play. Central Jersey Group III is loaded this year. To advance, you have to be a good team and capitalize on opportunities.”
The Knights couldn’t quite find a way to do that Monday. The loss did not detract from another solid season for WW-P North, which will lose eight seniors.
”It was kind of a strange season. I had so many girls go out sick,” Mackenzie said. “I think I had more girls sick in one year than in all the others combined. It always seemed like somebody was sick. It made it tough to get the continuity we needed. We were starting to put it together at the end, but just kind of ran out of time.
”It was a good group of girls though. We played all the good teams tough. We tied Princeton, tied Hopewell, lost to Steinert by a goal and lost to Hightstown by goal. That was the story of our season. We played tough, but couldn’t quite get to that next level.”