By: centraljersey.com
Neither team left the field thrilled with the outcome, but neither was disappointed either after the Princeton High boys soccer team played visiting Princeton Day School to a 1-1 tie on Saturday at Valley Road Field.
Princeton kept its unbeaten streak alive at 34 games with the draw, while PDS proved it is for real as its record stands at 7-1-2 after the game.
"It was great for us," said the Panthers’ Rui Pinheiro, whose goal in the second half evened the score. "They haven’t lost in two years. We held them to a tie and for us we’re happy we played well and had a good result."
For Princeton, the game provided yet another test for a team that has just continued to play well this year without nine starters who graduated from last year’s Group III state tournament team.
"We lost nine starters from last year to this year, but we’re returning some key guys," Princeton senior Zach Halliday said. "The whole defense between Ajami (Gikandi), Ben Davis and Pablo (Arroyo) were all on the bench last year and then this year they really stepped up and have done a great job back there. And we’ve had some good assistance from some freshman.
"And we have had great leadership from John Marsh and Ruben (Morales) and they have helped us rally together. We’re off to a good start at 8-0-1."
Princeton jumped out to a 1-0 lead on a goal by Ben Davis less than 10 minutes into the game. The Little Tigers had several other chances, but were not able to convert for that second goal of the game.
"We got a quick goal and then as a team I think we let them drift back into it by not finishing those couple of headers off the crossbar after we got the first one," Halliday said. "They gained some confidence and got one early in the second half. It was a really good shot. Maxime (Hoppenot) made a really good run to draw a foul and Rui had a good finish. You can’t take that away from them, it was a really good goal on their part."
PDS has every reason to be confident this year. They had played well the first few weeks of the season and the tie with Princeton can only help the Panthers’ confidence.
"I thought we played well," Pinheiro said. "We’re having a good season and Princeton is probably the best team in this area.."
The Panthers dropped a 4-1 decision to the Little Tigers last year, but this year has been different for the Panthers.
"Against a side that has gone 8-0 and is as good as them, a tie is a good result," said PDS coach Malcolm Murphy. "They are very tenacious and they move the ball well."
And while Princeton would have liked a win, they walked away with a tie and their unbeaten streak still alive.
"I remember last year we started off the season 5-0-3," Halliday said. "We had three ties early. I think a tie kind of brings us back down to earth and makes us work harder and realize we still need to get better as a team and grow as a team together."
Added Princeton coach Wayne Sutcliffe, whose team got its ninth win on Tuesday against Ewing: "It was a great darby. The players knew it was going to be a good battle, so we expected it. That’s the lesson of when you have two or three posts and four or five good chances and you only get one. But I was very pleased with the effort."

