By Bob Nuse, Sports Editor
After losing in the state Prep B tournament final last year, the Princeton Day School boys soccer team knew where it wanted to be this year — back in the final again.
The second-seeded Panthers not only got back to the final, but took the next step as they topped Newark Academy, 1-0, on Sunday to claim their fourth Prep B title and first since 2010.
“It feels awesome,” said junior Donovan Davis, who assisted Ricardo Martinez on the only goal of the game. “All the hard work we have put in since the summer time paid off. We set seasons goals and after losing last year in the finals this was definitely what we wanted, to come back and win it. We felt the whole time that each game we have played has been building up for the postseason.
“Playing at home was huge. We knew we needed to get a goal early and get our fans into it and out them on their heels. We knew with them being an underdog they were going to come with a lot of energy. We just wanted to relax and play out game.”
The Panthers tested themselves all season against a tough schedule and that paid off with a Prep B title.
“We’ve had a good season,” said first-year PDS coach Ollie Hilliker, whose team finished 12-5-3. “It’s had its ups and downs, but we have persevered and gotten stronger every game through that. I always believed we had a chance. Our aim was to be here in this game. Obviously, the last two weeks we have really concentrated and focused on what we’ve been doing. We worked hard and played our game today.
“We played a very strong schedule. At the end of the day you’re record doesn’t really matter. It matters that it helped us finish strong. We played Pennington, Peddie and Hill. A lot of strong schools.”
The Panthers were able to get on the board early, which helped relax the team. And goalkeeper Ryan Sparks came up with a huge play in the second half when he made a save on a penalty kick.
“We’ve been doing PKs a lot in practices,” Davis said. “We all felt it wasn’t a foul and the old saying is the ball doesn’t lie. That’s what we were saying after. We were frustrated with ourselves that we didn’t put it away earlier after that first goal. We thought we had a great start and then we eased up a little. I would have liked if we had kept going but we battled for 80 minutes. It was a great win.”
Added Hilliker: “I think that helped push us to the end. We’ve been working on penalties the last few practices just to make sure we’re comfortable and calm with them. Luckily that paid off and Ryan made a big save.”
Newark Academy had upset top-seeded Gill-St. Bernard’s, the defending champion, to get to the finals. The Minutemen kept the pressure on but in the end it was the Panthers who came away with the win.
“All credit to them,” Hilliker said. “They came and pressured us. They started putting more players forward and put a lot of pressure on us. Defensively, the boys stayed organized and that made the difference in the end that they couldn’t get to us.”
And that meant the Panthers had themselves a championship.
“It’s a great group,” Hilliker said. “They are like a family together. And while we lose some important seniors, we also have a great core going into next season. I think we have a good group that will going into next with the expectation that we try and do the same thing next year.”
Added Donovan: “We play a very tough schedule going against the Penningtons and the Peddies. Even though we lost those games we thought it would make us play better now. Another season goal we had was MCT semis and we came up short in that. I think that bitter taste helped us stay focused on preps.”
