Run ends in semis for Hun boys
By Bob Nuse, Sports Editor
EWING — To go 15-1-1 through 17 games, the Princeton Day School girls soccer team needed to play some very good soccer.
The Panthers also knew that to get to their first Mercer County Tournament final, they were going to have to be at their best against Princeton High School.
PDS managed to do just that, putting together its best 80 minutes of soccer all season to defeat the Little Tigers, 2-1, on Wednesday at Ewing High and advance to the MCT final. The Panthers will face either Pennington or Hopewell Valley as they go after their first MCT crown on Saturday at 5:30 p.m. at Rider University.
In the boys MCT, The Hun School’s magical ride to the semifinals came to an end with a 2-0 loss to Hightstown on Wednesday night.
”This has been some journey for us,” said PDS coach Pat Trombetta, whose team was making its first MCT semifinals appearance since 2003. “Looking at last season when we had a four-win season and coming back this year with the same core of players and a lot of freshmen. These girls have really stepped it up big time.
”Today was our best performance of the season. If these girls keep believing in themselves then anything can happen. Each game they continue to improve. Even this late in the season we continue to see improvement.”
Princeton had taken a 1-0 lead late in the first half when Taylor Lis scored off an assist from Shannon Pawlak. But just over a minute into the second half, PDS evened the score on a goal by Kirsten Kuzmicz. Less than 10 minutes later, Alexa Soltesz scored the go-ahead goal.
”At halftime we just said we had to keep our confidence up and keep working hard,” said junior Stef Soltesz, Alexa’s twin sister. “It was a whole team effort. No one gave up the whole time.”
The Panthers did a solid job in the back the entire game, as the group led by Stef Soltesz, Brit Murray and Lilly Razzaghi limited the Little Tigers’ opportunities.
Eventually, the Panthers scored the two goals they needed for the win.
”It was awesome,” Stef Soltesz said. “The whole season, Kirsten has been looking to get a goal and the last two games she has really been placing them from the outside. Our whole team got involved and it was a really great cross to her.
”That was the best game we have played all year. Brit shut down their main striker. Before the game we focused on one of their strikers and midfield players and we tried to shut them down. I was really proud of my team.”
The MCT has been an interesting ride for the top-seeded Panthers. They came into the tournament just a day removed from their only loss of the season and then needed overtime to beat 16th-seeded Hamilton. In the quarterfinals they put together a solid effort in a 3-0 win over Robbinsville.
”These girls have really come together and they are believing in themselves,” Trombetta said. “That is half the battle. The chemistry on this team is simply amazing. We have the same core of players as last year, but we also have some freshmen that have seen a lot of minutes. The older girls have taken the freshmen under their wings and it’s been great to see.
”They came together as a team. We had a scare in the first round. But we had a dominating performance the other day in the quarterfinal. And then today, this is the best overall game offensively and defensively I have seen from this group.”
Now the Panthers will have an opportunity to play for their first MCT girls soccer title.
”It is really a big thing for us,” Stef Soltesz said. “PDS has never been this far before in the MCTs with the girls soccer team. So we’re really proud of our team. We played a full 80 minutes, Our team played so well together today. I was so proud of the whole team.”
Princeton will look to bounce back from the loss in the semifinals when it opens play in the Central Jersey Group III tournament on Monday against Jackson Liberty. Princeton had a lead at halftime against the Panthers, but fell short in the semifinals for the second straight year.
”We were too conservative throughout most of the game,” Princeton coach Greg Hand said. “They are fast, quick and talented with the ball. They are a good team. Credit them for playing a complete game and we didn’t answer effectively. I think they earned the result.
”We just had to be more in sync with each other through the midfield and support our forwards a little better. We didn’t develop the kind of rhythm that we needed to attack tonight. Our goal in the first half was put together very well. After that we didn’t really organize well.”
The Hun boys, who were seeded 11th in the MCT, pulled off a pair of upsets to reach the semifinals. The Raiders knocked off sixth-seeded Princeton and third-seeded Allentown before falling to the second-seeded Rams.
”We created a lot of good opportunities for ourselves,” Hun coach Pat Quirk said after the game. “We couldn’t finish but we never gave up and that’s been the story of this team all season. There were times where they could have packed it in but they never do. They are always trying to keep scoring.”
The run through the MCT came near the end of an up and down season for the Raiders, who are 6-11 with two games left to play.
”I had a good feeling coming into the tournaments,” said Quirk, whose team nearly pulled off an upset of Peddie in the opening round of the Prep A tournament. “I had a good feeling about the state tournament, too. We had a little slip up against Peddie. We started playing well together. We started making some combinations and we had that whole never give up thing.”