DiTosto’s moves carried PHS
By Bob Nuse, Sports Editor
When it came to helping the Princeton High field hockey team win, Julia DiTosto was always willing to do whatever was needed.
”She was a four-year varsity starter and she has moved around positions over the years,” Princeton coach Heather Serverson said. “She gravitated to the midfield and that is her strong point overall. She anticipates the play really well and transitions quickly with a good view of the field to make offensive plays.
”She has earned her leadership role as well. She has taken time to be a mentor to the younger players and really helped them transition to playing at the varsity level.”
DiTosto is part of a senior group that has seen the Little Tigers steadily improve each year they have been with the program. This year Princeton finished 18-4, reaching the championship game of the Mercer County Tournament as well as the semifinals of North Jersey, Section 2 Group III tournament. The Little Tigers’ suffered just one loss in Colonial Valley Conference play; a weather-shortened 1-0 defeat at Allentown in their opener.
”It was definitely the farthest the team has gone in my four years of playing,” said DiTosto, who finished the season with 11 goals and four assists. “It is exciting to have the team go that far in your final year of high school. It was rewarding to see the progression each year and how our team chemistry was maintained over the four years. People in my grade were really close. We’ve been together since freshman year and the chemistry of team kept rolling through.
”We had an undefeated eighth grade year and it was nice to have people on the field over the years that you were used to and who you had good chemistry with on and off the field.”
Julia DiTosto is the Princeton Packet Field Hockey Player of the Year.
DiTosto would be considered a midfielder by most standards. But with the Little Tigers she moved wherever she was needed. Sometimes that meant moving back to defense, while other times it meant moving forward and helping on offense.
”I wouldn’t say there was a name for the position I played,” said DiTosto, who will continue her academic and athletic careers at Stanford, where she will play field hockey. “It was sort of a hybrid of center mid and sweeper. It was like those two mixed together, which was really fun. I got to be offensive and still use my defensive skills to help. I was on the corners this year. Last year I was a little and this year I got to work the ball in the circle.
”I like to do as much as I can on the field to help out. I think a really big part of our team is communication. It helps when the defense and me at center mid have good communication.”
Added Serverson: “She has the ability to play anywhere on the field. In the past she would fight me a little but then when I would explain why we need her there and how things would work, and she was always willing to make whatever move we needed her to make.”
The moves the Little Tigers made this year translated to success on the field. And while the team didn’t achieve every one of its goals along the way, DiTosto would not trade any of the experiences she enjoyed with her teammates.
”I would have liked to have won the Mercer County Tournament,” said DiTosto, who also plays ice hockey for the Little Tigers. “When I look back to my first years and having Sydney Watts as a mentor my first two years and to see how I have developed as a player and see how the team has developed, it is remarkable. I see the progress of four years and how we have developed into a competitive team. And I know we have a lot of good athletes that will still be here to carry on what we have done.
”It is crazy thinking back to freshman year tryouts and wondering would I make varsity and now this was my senior year as a captain.”
DiTosto will go from one successful program to another when she plays at Stanford next year. The Cardinal went 19-3 and reached the second round of the NCAA tournament before losing to eventual national champion Connecticut.
”This season was the best in the history of the program,” DiTosto said. “They had a record amount of wins and made it the furthest in the NCAA they had ever gone.”
In DiTosto, the Cardinal will be getting a player that will certainly be an asset to their growing program.
”She has grown into her leadership role and become a good leader for us,” Serverson said. “When she was younger she had Sydney do it for her and as she got older she helped our younger players.
”We took our annual baby steps this year. We went further each year she has been here along with Lucy (Herring) and Campbell (McDonald). They came in together as freshmen and have passed that leadership down and know how to hand it to the younger players.”
All in all, for DiTosto and the other seniors it was a great four-year experience.
”Only one team doesn’t lose a game in the postseason,” she said. “We feel like we’re an awesome team, too. We held up strong against Lawrenceville and Warren Hills. We adjusted to different caliber teams and we had a lot of success.”