PDS girls fall in semis
By: Justin Feil, Assistant Sports Editor
Soccer is all about opportunities — creating them on offense, limiting them on defense.
Tucker Barth has been able to take advantage of an unexpected opportunity, the first starts of his career this season. The Hun School senior was inserted in the regular lineup when Ryan Kreger was lost to injury in the first game of the year.
Barth was part of a Raider defense that did not allow a goal, and very few opportunities, in a 3-0 win over Lawrenceville in the Prep A state semifinals Wednesday.
”We’re not going to replace Ryan,” said Hun head coach Chris Kingston, whose team plays top-seeded St. Benedict’s 1 p.m. Sunday at New Jersey Institute of Technology. “He might be the smartest player I’ve ever coached. Losing him is compounded by the style we like to play, getting the ball to the right guy at the right time. Tucker is a senior that’s had limited playing time in the past. He’s had as good an attitude as you could ever want. He really buys in. He cares so much about the team. He practice so hard.
”We have this speech from this Princeton professor given at Rob Myslik’s memorial service that I’ve read to the team a bunch of times. We’re trying to carry on the Myslik tradition and he’s got the thing posted in his locker and he reads it before every game. It talks about how important soccer is and what it meant to Rob. He’s a great kid and a very tough defender and has improved every day. He’s the example you want your younger guys to follow. He’s a great success story.”
Barth and the Raiders will try to take advantage of their final two opportunities of the year. Hun plays at Hill today in its Mid-Atlantic Prep League final before taking on St. Benedict’s in a rematch of last year’s state final.
”We haven’t won the state title in 20 years,” Barth said. “This is the year we can win it. As a senior, it’s my last opportunity to win it. It would mean a lot to me. And we still have the opportunity to win the MAPL. I don’t think any teams have won both. Last year we won Mercer Counties. These are the next championships that I’d like to win.”
The Princeton Day School girls’ soccer team bowed out of the Prep A tournament with a 5-2 loss to No. 1 Lawrenceville on Wednesday. The Panthers had a 1-0 lead on a goal by Cammie Linville, and got their final goal of the season from their lone senior, Alexa Maher. The Panthers lost their top defender, Erin Cook, in the course of the game.
”It started to deteriorate then,” said PDS head coach Patrick Trombetta after his team concluded a 10-7-1 season. “She had been playing with a bad ankle. It was unfortunate, but it was a good season overall for the kids.
”We talked after the game and said, there should be no heads hanging here. We exceeded expectations. We only had one senior and four returning starters. It was a team full of freshmen and sophomores. You have a lot to look forward to. All the experience gained, all these tournament games and playing these teams tough, it’s going to help down the road.”
The Hun boys got goals from Campbell Stevenson in the first half and Jake O’Donnell and John Gianis in the second half. It helped the Raiders win more convincingly than their 2-1 regular-season victory against the Big Red. Barth was part of a dominant defense that includes Thomas Nicholas, Mike Azzara, Chris Gardner and Julian Plummer.
”Every one of our defenders played really well today,” Barth said. “I thought we won a lot of the 50-50 balls and head balls and played hard overall.
”The seniors, we’ve been playing together for a long time. I probably won’t be continuing my soccer career after high school. So this was my third to last soccer game ever.”
Barth made it a good one, and he hopes there are two more solid games in him. He began the season splitting time, but that ended in the county tournament final.
”By the Princeton game, I just couldn’t take Tucker out until he’s cramping,” Kingston said. “He’s not cramping because he’s not in shape. He just wasn’t used to me playing him so many minutes.”
Hun has 160 more minutes of soccer against two talented teams. For Barth, it’s all about the opportunities that end Sunday with another shot at the Gray Bees.
”I think this is our best shot at Benedict’s,” Barth said. “I think we can win this year if we play hard. They’re beatable if we capitalize on our opportunities and limit theirs.”