By Bob Nuse, The Packet Group
The Princeton High boys’ soccer team isn’t about to argue with those who say you sometimes get better from a loss.
This season, the Little Tigers have been living proof.
Princeton captured its second straight Mercer County Tournament championship with a 2-0 win over Pennington on Friday night at Mercer County Community College. The win was the Little Tigers’ eighth straight since suffering back-to-back losses to West Windsor-Plainsboro North and Steinert.
”I think it made us work a lot harder,” Princeton senior Nick Hughes, a Cranbury resident, said of the losses. “We lost to North and Steinert in the same week. Since then we haven’t lost and we beat North when we played them again. So we’ve been able to turn it around. I think it made us work a lot harder. When we got to the states last year we were a little cocky and that loss was disappointing. So losing one this year might have helped us.”
Last year, Princeton went through the regular season and MCT without a loss before falling to Neptune in the state tournament. This year, Princeton entered the MCT with two losses and a No. 4 seed, but knocked off top-seeded WW-P North and No. 2 seed Pennington on the way to a title.
Paul Ehrenworth scored a first-half goal to give the Little Tigers an early lead, while Cranbury’s Sam Kotowski added a goal in the second half. It was more than enough scoring for the Princeton defense and goalkeeper Steven Hellstern, who finished with six saves.
”It feels really good,” said Hughes, who was part of a defense that limited Pennington to seven shots. “Getting the first goal really helps, especially when you get it early in the first half. It would have been nice to get another one a little earlier. But icing it like that was great. Even though we didn’t play our best in the second half, Sam was able to get one there at the end.
”Steven was great. I think he’s the best in the county and one of the best in the state, too. Countless times, someone gets a breakaway and he’s just so good one-on-one. He just stonewalls them.”
Hellstern, also of Cranbury, met all the challenges in what turned out to be an impressive week for the Little Tigers. He started with a shutout against WW-P South, then allowed just one goal to WW-P North before the shutout against Pennington.
”North was really, really good,” said Hellstern, who celebrated his birthday with Friday’s win. “And today, we knew these guys had some players who were really good and if they got an opening they could score. So we just had to play tough defense and that was what we did. When we got the first goal I got so much confidence and it helped me play so much better. Our entire team is the same way. We know that even if we get scored on, we’re not losing, we’re still tied.
”I think the losses spurred us on and gave us more of a desire to win because we didn’t want to lose anymore. It really helped us out.”
Princeton, which improved to 15-2 with the win, has allowed just nine goals all season. The Little Tigers had a letdown loss to Lawrenceville Monday and closed out the regular season with a 2-0 win over Allentown Tuesday before opening the state tournament on Thursday.
”Our defense has been playing well all season,” Princeton coach Wayne Sutcliffe said. “Will Slade, all year long he has been playing so well. Hellstern proved why he is one of the most noted goalkeepers in New Jersey. That one v. one stop he made was the play of the game. The other three did well, too. But those two just kept us in the game.”
And now the Little Tigers will look to add to their crown as they get set for the Central Jersey Group III tournament.
”Two years ago we lost to Hun in the semis of the MCT and then we went on to win sectionals,” Hughes said. “So it really gave us a fire and it did help us in the end. We’re looking to go well into states. We’re a four seed and there are a lot of god teams in there.”
Added Hellstern: “This year, hopefully we can do it differently. We even have T-shirts that say ‘3-0 Never Again’ because we lost to Neptune 3-0 last year. I don’t think we’ll make the same mistake again, at least not consciously.”
Along with Hellstern, Hughes and Kotowski, other Cranbury players sharing in the joy of another title were midfielders Corey Marsh, Michael Brennan and John Marsh, and defenders Clayton Spann and Scott Schwarz.
