By Bob Nuse, Sports Editor
No one knows what would have happened if the Princeton Day School and Montclair Kimberley girls soccer teams had been able to play out the final 6:25 of their state Prep B tournament final.
What everyone does know is that because severe weather came into the area and forced a stoppage, the two teams will share the state title as co-champions.
“It’s a tough way to end, obviously,” PDS coach Pat Trombetta said. “We won it the last two years and the girls wanted to defend their title. On paper it is defending their title, but it’s not the same as winning it outright.”
The Panthers had won the last two Prep B titles outright and now have three straight titles to their credit. They battled MKA for nearly 84 scoreless minutes and neither team was able to score.
“I am still really proud of the girls, but I am a little disappointed that we didn’t get to finish up the half because at the end, I felt like we had the advantage and we were pressuring,” PDS senior Abby Atkeson said. “With another six minutes who knows that would have happened.”
While MKA seemed to control play early in the game, the Panthers seemed to be seizing control over the final 20 minutes. But thunder and then heavy rain never allowed to let the teams back on the field.
“If you look at the last week or two of the tournaments, we have been turning it on the last 10-15 minutes of the game,” said Trombetta, whose team finished the season 16-1-3. “I felt like it was the same thing here today. It’s just unfortunate with the weather we didn’t get to finish the job.
“Overall, when I put everything into perspective, we had an undefeated regular season. Our first loss of the season wasn’t until the county finals. That’s successful no matter how you look at it. I feel really proud of this senior group winning a championship every year. You can put an asterisk next to this year, but all in all they got the job done.”
The Panthers had beaten MKA in overtime to claim the title last year and the teams may well have been heading to overtime again. In the end, the final result was a third straight title.
“It’s been an incredible experience,” Atkeson said. “I have never had coaches quite like Coach T and Howie (Powers) and Brie (Nomejko). They are so supportive and really into the success of the team. They want the girls to succeed. The whole experience of making friends from the team has been really incredible. I am really grateful for it.
“Our regular season was absolutely amazing. The fact we beat Pennington when we hadn’t beaten them in a decade just shows the strength of the team. Making it to MCT finals and now making it here to the prep finals I am so proud of the girls and all they have done.”
For a senior like Atkeson, leaving the program with three straight state titles as well as a Mercer County title is something she’ll never forget.
“As a senior you are looking at it from a different point of view,” she said. “Every game means a lot more and has a lot more value to you. This game was my last. I’m not playing soccer in college. So I definitely look at it from a different perspective. I am really proud of the fact that we made it to the finals and that we are champions.”
