By Bob Nuse, Sports Editor
Connor Fletcher wanted to leave Princeton Day School this season with a championship in hand.
Now he has two.
The PDS boys lacrosse team, which won the Mercer County Tournament championship last week, followed up their 17-8 win over Robbinsville in that final with a 6-5 win over Montclair Kimberley in the state Prep B final on Wednesday.
“We have been hunting for these two championships my whole career here,” senior Connor Fletcher said. “No one has ever won both in the same season for lacrosse here. I can’t give it up to the boys enough for bearing down in these tight games.”
Elon Tuckman and his older brother Jonah Tuckman each scored a pair of goals, while Joey Levine and Coby Auslander also scored to back the goalkeeping of Connor Green, who finished with 13 saves.
“It’s a great feeling,” Fletcher said. “I can’t give it up to these guys enough. Every single day they come to work and give it their all. I love these guys. We have had our ups and our downs. I have been to this championship three times. Looking back at it all there is no one I would have rather done it with than these guys.”
The Panthers came alive on offense in their MCT title win over Robbinsville as Jonah Tuckman scored five goals and Levine added four. Fletcher finished with three goals and four assists. The offense stayed in high gear with a 15-3 win over Morristown-Beard in the Prep B semifinals as the Panthers had to win four games in eight days to capture the two titles.
“That’s the toughest thing about playing Mercer County and preps,” Fletcher said. “Going in and finishing up the Mercer County Tournament and then having to get back up again for another semifinal in a different tournament. These guys stayed focused the whole way around. I give a lot of credit to them.
“They are my best friends and my brothers. I love coming out here and playing with them every single day. I am going to miss it. The biggest thing is we are always excited to get out here. Whether it be scrimmaging at practice or running sprints, we’re just happy to be out here with each other.”
After some close calls in the past, the Panthers now have a pair of championships to celebrate.
“We have been here a few times in the championship and these guys have come out here and really earned it,” PDS coach Rich D’Andrea said. “The focus has really been on the end of the year. We have had some big games during the course of the year and this has been the target the whole time. Mercer County and Prep B. For these guys to come in against the quality of competition we have played and pull this out makes it special.
“Over the last few years here, if you read the back of the shirt it says together. I don’t know if I have ever coached a group of kids that has had each other’s backs better than these guys have. They really treat each other like brothers and fir any successful program I think that is what you need, guys that will go to bat for one another.”
