Kotowski took game to a higher level
By Bob Nuse, Sports Editor
When the Princeton High boys’ soccer team needed a goal in a big spot, there was no doubt where the Little Tigers would turn.
Sam Kotowski had the kind of season for Princeton that most players can only dream about. The senior finished with a school-record 31 goals, including 15 game-winners during the Little Tigers’ 18-3 season that included their second consecutive Mercer County Tournament title.
”It was remarkable,” Princeton coach Wayne Sutcliffe said of Kotowski’s senior year. “When you reflect on the season Sam had, it was absolutely unbelievable. Coming into the season we talked about some goals he could set for himself and about getting his game to another level. Not only scoring big goals, but scoring goals in big games. He had 15 game-winners this year and not just in the first half of the season. It was the entire season.
”I’m so proud of how he reached his goals and helped the team so much. It was something I had not seen a player do for us over an entire season.”
Kotowski’s 31 goals eclipsed the Princeton record of 29 set by Carlos Figueroa in 1995. Kotowski came into the season having already scored 44 in his career, but he knew this year he was going to have to take his game up a notch.
”I did understand that,” said Kotowski, a Cranbury resident. “At the beginning of the season I knew that was a tall order and this year would be different because the past couple years I had Ross MacDonald and Kyle DeBlois up front with me.
”But this year was really a toss-up. Paul Ehrenworth is such a versatile player that he can play anywhere on the field. We were not sure where he would play when he would come back. So the other forward position was really just up for grabs. So I knew that was something I had to do for this team to be successful.”
Seven times this season the Little Tigers won a game by one goal. In every case, it was a Kotowski tally that made the difference.
”He has something special,” Sutcliffe said. “He has a nose for the goal. He’s a kid who just loves soccer. He can’t wait to get to the next game. He has such a desire to keep playing and improving. That will help him as a college player.
”He did all this in a year when the CVC was very strong. There were only three teams that struggled this year. Even in the Mercer County Tournament, there were 16 teams and the top eight all could have won it. Even the top 10 could have gone on a run. He had the game-winner in our first three games in the tournament and then he scored the insurance goal in the final.”
Sam Kotowski is the Princeton Packet Boys’ Soccer Player of the Year.
Kotowski has been a fixture in the Princeton lineup since first stepped foot on the campus. He’s been a starting forward for four years, but when he reflects on his career, he knows he’s not the same player now that he was as a freshman.
”I just felt like freshman year I was a little smaller and a lot lighter,” Kotowski said. “I have put on a lot of weight since freshman year. I got a little taller and I also felt like my confidence went up. Freshman year I was a little unsure. After the next couple years I got comfortable with everything and really fit in with the program.”
Sutcliffe also saw the progression, both on and off the field.
”I am so proud of the way Sam has developed as a player,” Sutcliffe said. “He was good when he came to PHS. He was a national pool player and I think he was a regional pool player as a freshman and sophomore. He’s always played on a high-level club team. But the growth with his soccer savvy got so much better the last four years.”
During the course of his four years at Princeton, Kotowski scored 75 goals. He also helped the Little Tigers win three CVC division championships, two MCT titles and a Central Jersey Group III crown. Being able to score like he did, especially with every opposing defense focused on stopping him, was no easy task.
”There is a lot of work behind every goal,” Kotowski said. “Some goals are just plain and simple hard work. But a lot of them were from great passes, either from Jon Beissinger, Paul Ehrenworth, Corey Marsh, Evan (Gershkovich), anybody out there to assist me. Will (Slade) played a couple great balls up to the front. So there is a lot behind that.
”There were plenty of times where I did get frustrated. But I think that maturing through the years I was able to deal with that a lot better. I do get frustrated, that’s a given for anybody who has two or three guys on them. I tried to keep that under control as best I could but it is hard sometimes not to get frustrated.”
Next year Kotowski will move on to play at the college level. For the first time in a long time he’ll be without the friends he grew up playing the game with. It will be a new chapter in his soccer life, but he’ll never forget what has been written so far.
”Corey Marsh, Clayton Spann, there are a couple guys on that team that played on what was the Cranbury Rangers at the time,” Kotowski said of his early playing days. “My dad coached the team. We loved it. Back in the day we just loved playing soccer and we all played together. After a while that team broke up and we all went our separate ways. But the friendships are still there.”
Those friendships were formed on the soccer fields of Cranbury. And Kotowski can envision another group of players coming along and doing what he and his long-time teammates have done.
”Soccer in Cranbury is the most popular sport,” he said. “We don’t have enough kids to field a football team, so soccer is the way to go. This year (the Cranbury School) was the second team to go undefeated. When I was there as a seventh-grader we were undefeated. There are a lot of guys in Cranbury coming up from Cranbury that are going to be very good.”
As far as his own PHS career, Kotowski kept it simple. He scored goals that mattered.
”When we needed him to score a big goal, he found a way to do it,” Sutcliffe said.

