Reimitz’s big week lifts PHS soccer to MCT crown
By Justin Feil, Assistant Sports Editor
Laurenz Reimitz’s soccer career hasn’t quite gone the way he had anticipated on the field or off, but he and the Princeton High School boys team has been thrilled with the way things have developed.
The senior never expected to play goalkeeper for his entire high school career, and never anticipated staying through graduation at PHS. He moved to Princeton in sixth grade with every intention of returning to finish high school in his native Austria.
”Middle school wasn’t very pleasant,” Reimitz recalled. “I didn’t like it. When I came to high school, it got a little better. I started liking it more and more. At one point, I was honest with myself and I told myself I really liked being here in America. It’s not as bad as I thought it was.”
Reimitz feels almost identically about playing goalie. He had played goalie in handball back in Austria, but had no real formal playing experience at the position in soccer when he filled out a questionnaire as a freshman on what positions he played.
”I filled out striker and goalie,” Reimitz said. “I have an older brother, and every time we would go somewhere and play soccer, I’d be in goal because he was the older one and I had to do what he told me to do.”
Reimitz was put in goal as a freshman for PHS because his coach needed a goalie. It was his first time playing it in an organized game.
”I liked it,” Reimitz said. “After a while, I just kind of grew tired of it. Not that I don’t like it, I just like playing striker more.”
Reimitz has played striker for his club team in futsal, but never had that chance with PHS, though he took advantage of the rare scoring opportunity last week. Tied, 1-1, with Steinert in the Mercer County Tournament semifinals after regulation and overtime, Reimitz stopped one Steinert shot and after PHS scored the first three of its kicks, Reimitz converted the fourth kick to clinch a 4-1 shootout win. Only two brilliant saves by Reimitz in overtime had helped the Little Tigers even advance to a shootout.
Reimitz was spectacular again in the MCT final on Saturday. Again PHS went to penalty kicks, and this time they prevailed with a 3-0 win over Allentown in the shootout portion. It’s the first MCT championship for the Little Tigers since 2010.
Laurenz Reimitz is the Princeton Packet Athlete of the Week.
”He was the most valuable player in the Mercer County Tournament,” said PHS head coach Wayne Sutcliffe. “There’s no doubt about it.”
Sutcliffe and the Little Tigers were thrilled to have an experienced senior leader in the back for them in the crucial spots that came up in the MCT. Over and over, Reimitz came through to remind them of how lucky they are that he stayed.
”He was going to back to Austria after his sophomore year to prepare for the baccalaureate there and go to college there,” Sutcliffe said. “Ultimately he decided to stay, which was to our benefit. Once we heard that he was staying, we were just ecstatic about that decision that he made.”
Reimitz started as goalkeeper for the PHS varsity as a sophomore. It was a position he had played a little growing up. He had still held onto hope that he could play striker, but a poor performance in a small-sided game sealed his spot in the back.
”It’s OK,” Reimitz said. “It would have been nice to play striker. It’s not too much of a big deal for me. I’ll play goalkeeper for now and when high school stops, I’ll hope to play striker.”
For now, he’s plenty content to be such a big factor in the Little Tigers’ success. They advanced to Thursday’s scheduled second-round Central Jersey Group III game with a 2-1 win over Hamilton on Monday. The Little Tigers weren’t as sharp as they wanted to be coming off a pair of emotional MCT wins to earn the county crown.
”Since I haven’t won this and this was the last chance that I could ever win this, it’s a huge thing,” Reimitz said. “We as a team, we knew that we wanted it. We also knew that Allentown and Steinert in the semifinal, they wanted it a lot too. We just went out there and gave it our all.”
Reimitz doesn’t love the pressure of the goalie position, but he was equal to every task in two nerve-wracking games that went to shootouts.
”I would be happy with a 3-0 victory,” Reimitz joked. “I would have no problem with that. I always like a comfortable day. Allentown is not that type of team. They make it hard on the whole defense. We won in a tight way, but as long as you won, that’s what counts.”
The Little Tigers made sure to let Reimitz and the penalty kick shooters know before the shootout that they would be supportive win or lose.
”That took the pressure off everybody,” Reimitz said, adding, “As a goalkeeper, penalties are not the worst thing. As a kick taker, you really should score. If you do save it, you’re the hero. It’s not a bad thing. I don’t usually have huge pressure. I always want to save it. It still feels bad going the other way when it goes in. It’s not that bad. It’s much worse for the kicker.”
Reimitz got a taste of that pressure as one of the kickers in the Steinert game, and he was due up next in the Allentown game when the Little Tigers clinched it. Again as a shooter, he was reassured by teammates that they were behind him whether he scored or not against Steinert.
”Since then I pretty much knew it was going to go in,” Reimitz said. “It gave me so much confidence.”
PHS had lost to Steinert early in the season, and to avenge that loss in the MCT semifinals was important in showing the Little Tigers’ development.
”We wanted to prove a point,” Reimitz said. “We wanted to prove we were the better team and we’d do everything we can.”
Reimitz and the Little Tigers also knew they’d get a tough game from Allentown, a team that they needed double overtime to stop just two weeks ago.
”I always had a feeling that there’s a good chance that it’s going to go penalties,” Reimitz said. “Maybe that prepared me mentally. The last time we played them it was 1-0 and Chase (Ealy) scored a penalty in the last three minutes of extra time. I had a feeling it would go to penalties. Both defenses were very strong and we weren’t going to let in many goals. I was a little surprised we let in any. My thought was we would go to a 0-0 penalty score.”
With the game going into penalty kicks, the Little Tigers were happy to have a veteran in goal in Reimitz. It made everyone else on the team more confident to have a three-year starter back there.
”He’s just continued to improve and get better and more confident,” Sutcliffe said. “He’s a better technical goalkeeper than he used to be, he’s so much better in the air. He’s more consistent now. He’s more confident. He’s a little bigger and he has better range. And he has all that experience.
”He’s definitely more of a leader,” he added. “His body language and his manner in training and around the team and in the team room is much more of a leadership style. Laurenz isn’t the most extroverted personality, but he’s definitely one of the guys in the leadership circle.”
His strong senior year puts him into some well-known company among the top goalies to ever play for PHS. Sutcliffe could name them all, and he has been fortunate that position has been so strong. Reimitz is just his latest standout in goal.
”He had a good season last year, and he got better,” Sutcliffe said. “You have to keep improving, and he did. He saved some games for us last year, but this year he’s just gotten so much better in a short span of time.
”Laurenz is very even keel. He doesn’t get rattled. Some goalkeepers have a temperament where they get a little crazy, and they feed off of that mania. But he’s like Steven Hellstern was. He’s a strong competitor and never gets rattled.”
Sutcliffe is just happy that Reimitz remained at PHS for all four years so he could see his growth. And Laurenz Reimitz is happy that he has been able to be a key part of a special run and season.
”I’m happy with my decision,” Reimitz said. “I don’t regret it at all.”