By Justin Feil, Assistant Sports Editor
Years before Trish Reilly got there, Heather Serverson knew that Reilly would be a valuable member of the Princeton High School field hockey team.
”She’s been playing club since she was tiny,” said Serverson, who has been coaching in the PHS program for nine years. “She was always the one training with field hockey. I remember finishing practice with her older sister, and her mom would do drills with Trish on the turf.”
Reilly remembers fondly those early days, and sees how they have helped to shape her into a solid player.
”I started in third grade because my mom played in college,” Reilly said. “She definitely wanted me to try it. I did get an early start. My older sister, Meg, played in high school. Watching her games, I fell in love with the sport and I wanted to get started.
”I’ve played with Total Dutch (club team) since I was so young,” she added. “Our team is so close. It’s like second family. Being able to play in high school and being able to continue with the sport I love is such a blessing.”
Reilly still finds plenty of chance to work at her game. Nowadays, she finds her way to the turf at PHS or even at Stuart Country Day whenever she can to play with her neighbors and teammates, though she can also stay home and work on her skills.
”My grandpa built me a goal for my 15th birthday,” Reilly said. “I have a goal in my backyard.”
The work has paid off for Reilly, a midfielder who has helped the Little Tigers open her junior year quickly. She had a goal in PHS’ 2-1 win over Peddie as PHS bounced back from a storm-shortened 1-0 loss to Allentown in the season opener. PHS has won three straight since then going into Thursday’s scheduled game against Ewing.
”We definitely tightened up the ship since then,” said Serverson, whose team plays Stuart on Saturday. “That was obviously one of the more challenging games and it wasn’t even played out. We’re a little scarred by it. It’s a good motivator.”
Reilly had a goal and assisted on the game-winner by Jordyn Cane in a 2-1 win over Robbinsville last Friday. Margaret Welch made three saves in the win. Lucy Herring had a goal in the win over Peddie, and had two assists in a 3-0 win over Hamilton. Avery Peterson scored all three goals for the Little Tigers.
”We were definitely upset about that (Allentown) game,” Reilly said. “We were coming back.”
Expectations are high for the Little Tigers this year. Reilly is among a host of returning players for PHS, which graduated just three starters.
”It definitely helps with the team dynamics,” Reilly said. “We’re pretty much the same people and the new people fit in well. We’re all bonded and we all get along well. It’s nice for positioning. The people we lost, the new people fit right in their spots.”
PHS has opened the season playing at a high level, and they figure to only improve from here.
”We only really lost three starters,” Serverson said, “so essentially we’re picking up right where we left off. The way they’re playing, it looks as though we’re not early in our season. The way we’re playing is more typical of the way last year’s team was playing at the end.”
The Little Tigers didn’t accomplish quite all that they wanted last year when they came up short of even reaching the Mercer County Tournament and sectional finals. This year, they come back a hungrier team.
”We’re definitely very excited,” Reilly said. “We had a very good preseason and we have a pretty good record. We’re 3-1. Last year, we tied against a good Peddie team. This year, we beat them. It was exciting to see improvement.”
The Little Tigers are not resting on their fast start. They know that they have to improve to get to where they want to be by season’s end.
”There’s always something we can improve on,” Reilly said. “There’s definitely a ton of progress. We’ve really come together as a team. We’re starting to communicate more and starting to work on little things. Everyone came in skilled as individuals, but we’re becoming more of a unit.
”I think we definitely need to be more explosive, more aggressive with the ball,” she added. “Everything we are improving on, we need to further improve on. We’re already making progress and we’re getting there.”
Reilly is never one to be satisfied with her play. She worked all offseason on becoming an even better player.
”I definitely wanted to improve on my power,” she said. “I would use a lot of quick skills before. I wanted to improve and worked on using more power than finesse. I worked a lot in the backyard.”
The Little Tigers as a team still are working on the sorts of improvements that will make them more dynamic offensively and stingier on defense.
”One thing we want to work on is our corners,” Reilly said. “We definitely want to capitalize on those. We’ve been working on them in practice. And we want to pass the ball more. We used to use a lot of stick skills. Now we’re starting to come together as a team and moving the ball quicker.
”The communication is so much better, and the ball speed, with everyone improving their skills, is better.”
The faster the Little Tigers can move the ball up the field, the better their chance to score. Reilly fits well in the midfield to help transition the ball from end to end. All her years of work show up on the field.
”Trish rarely has a bad game,” Reilly said. “She rarely has a bad moment. I don’t remember the last time she had a bad game. Even when she was a freshman.”
Reilly is among the players that works at her game year-round, a big change from when Serverson took over as head coach.
”Maybe 75 percent of the varsity team plays year-round now,” Serverson said. “When I first started, there was one.
”The one thing they bring is consistency,” she said. “And they have experience from playing in bigger games. Their ability to be calm and composed and still have the energy is big for us.”
Playing year-round gives them more opportunity to work at their game, and more time to connect with each other if they’re on the same team. The continuity of play is starting to show up on the field.
”I think our strength lies in the fact that they play together, many of them year-round at this point,” Serverson said. “They’re very comfortable with each other. I don’t think I could say forwards, midfield or defense is our best (strength). I think the strength is they play year-round, the familiarity they have with each other.”
PHS is on the same page with each other as they take aim at some special goals.
”They’re very hungry,” Serverson said. “One of their team goals is to win the MCTs. They’re very ambitious. They realize how good they are.”
When they work together, the Little Tigers are even tougher to beat. PHS has good talent in each class, and a strong class of leaders.
”It’s awesome,” Reilly said. “They lead us on the field and off the field, in tutoring sessions or we’ll talk about classes. They’re leaders on and off the field.”
It works to bring together a team that is full of potential, and is working hard every day to make sure it lives up to its own high expectations.
