Senior’s play boosts PHS’ in MCT
By Bob Nuse, Sports Editor
The Princeton High boys’ soccer team has been making a habit of playing well in the Mercer County Tournament.
This year that continued, even if the expectations going in weren’t quite the same.
”Last year we were the No. 1 seed and this year we were No. 5 with two losses,” Princeton senior Will Slade said. “I think we felt a little disappointed before the tournament and felt like we had underachieved. People expect Princeton to be good every year, but I don’t think anyone expected us to win it this year.”
But the Little Tigers did just that, posting three straight upset wins based on the seeds, capped off with a 2-0 win over Pennington in the MCT final. Earlier, Princeton had eliminated top-seeded West Windsor-Plainsboro North and No. 4 WW-P South to get to the final.
”Last year we had Hun in the semis and then Steinert, but the first two were pretty easy,” Slade said. “This year they were tough games all the way through. We had Hightstown, South, North and Pennington. They’re all real good teams. So we definitely earned it.”
They earned it with solid team play throughout the tournament. Slade didn’t score a goal — in fact he hasn’t scored one all year. But he certainly made an impact all over the field.
”He’s been consistent and that’s what you expect from him because he has always been that way,” Princeton coach Wayne Sutcliffe said. “He’s done a great job all season. There have been very few, if any, games this year where he has not played well.
”Against North, he added another dimension, not only with his ability to defend but also being able to be in the right place at the right time in the final third. He has an attacking mindset as well, which he has developed over the last four to six weeks.”
Slade made a huge impact on one of the biggest plays in the tournament with a perfectly placed free kick that led to Sam Kotowski scoring the winning goal in overtime against North in the semis.
Will Slade is the Princeton Packet Athlete of the Week.
”It has never worked like that in practice,” Slade said of the free kick from inside the midfield line. “I just tried to put the ball to where I thought Sam was. North has three defenders who are around 6-feet tall and Sam was just able to elevate and get a head on the ball. We practice that with Coach (Carlos) Salazar every day, so it was nice to see it work.”
Added Sutcliffe: “It had perfect pace and perfect weight on the ball. He has been getting better and better at that as the season has moved forward.”
Slade has gotten better in every facet of the game, making him a player the Little Tigers lean on all the time.
”He’s certainly been around the game a long time,” Sutcliffe said. “He certainly welcomes the challenge. We have four captains and he is one of them. He’s a three-year varsity player and he also has a lot of experience at the club level.
”He has really developed as a leader as well. He’s really passionate about Princeton High soccer and his Princeton Union club team as well. He is a Princeton guy through and through. He is there in the back for us and he does a lot of hard work.”
Being a leader is a role Slade takes very seriously. He’s seen it done well by players before him and intends to make sure that tradition does not end.
”I thought we had some great leadership on defense with the captains we have had the last two years,” Slade said. “Last year we had Peter (McInerney) and Ari Silver, who were great leaders on defense. Peter played varsity for four years and I was looking to step up and take his place as sweeper. I wanted to be able to fill his shoes.”
And he’d like this Princeton team to be as successful as the others he has played on. Winning the MCT was the first step.
”When we came in freshman year we had a good group and we have nine seniors who have stuck with it,” Slade said. “We felt like we have a strong class and we always expected to be good our senior year. And even though we lost four all-conference players from last year, we knew we could have a good year this year. The young guys have stepped up. The season has been a real pleasant surprise.”