By Bob Nuse, Sports Editor
Morgan Mills is hoping to make the most of her final season with the Princeton Day School girls lacrosse team., “It still feels surreal,” said Mills, one of two seniors on the PDS roster. “My freshman year versus this year has been a total transformation of our team. We’re so different. It has really been incredible and I have been so proud to be a part of the team for four years. I am especially excited for this season not just because I am a senior, but because I think we have a really special team and good things are going to happen.”, The Panthers are enjoying a bounce-back after suffering a 14-9 loss to Princeton. On Monday, Mills made a huge defensive play in the closing minute as PDS rallied for a 12-11 win over The Hun School. Two days later, the Panthers had their best offensive game of the season in a 19-9 win over Blair., “We needed to rebound,” PDS coach Jill Thomas said after the win over Hun. “We didn’t play particularly well after we got back from Florida. I told the girls from the shoulders down we’ve got some skill. From the shoulders up we have some work to do. So that is what we focused on. They are smart kids. They just have to get the mental part down and play together as a team.”, Against Hun, freshman Julia Lach scored the game-winning goal with 18 seconds left after Mills caused a turnover and found Bridget Kane who fed the ball to Lach for the winning goal. The game was a back and forth affair, with five lead changes and eight ties., “Going into it we tried to just treat it as a normal game so as not to get too much in our heads or make it out to be more than it was,” Mills said of the rivalry win over the Raiders. “It meant a lot to get us back on track. I think having these back and forth games create mental toughness. Hopefully the next time it happens we know we can come back and pull out a win., “Our transition game is really where we excel. That defensive piece is really an example of keeping you cool and relying on your teammates that they will do something great and come up with the ball and you’ll get a shot.”, Madison Mundenar scored five goals and added three assists in the win, while Mills and Kyra Hall each scored twice. Delia Lawver scored five goals and Hannah Bunce added three for Hun., Mills, who will play for Princeton University next year, is one of two seniors along with Abby Atkeson. They have been strong leaders for the Panthers, with Mills leading on the offensive end and Atkeson on the defensive end., “There are only two of us that are seniors, but we have eight or nine juniors that are really incredible and have flourished as players,” Mills said. “We are a very close team. I think this is going to be a very strong season for us. We are coming back super hungry for this year.”, Added Thomas: “Morgan and Abby. One at one end and one at the other. (Mills is going to do whatever she has to do. She brought the calm. She is going to go on and play right down the street.”, After the loss to Princeton High, Thomas was happy to see her team bounce back against another quality opponent., “I think it makes you appreciate the game and it also makes you understand how talented the area lacrosse has become,” the veteran PDS coach said. “There is a lot of parity. There are a lot of different styles. They came to play. Their defense played great.”, Lauren Cunniff was excellent in goal for Hun, recording 12 saves. And in the end, PDS freshman Maggie Madani was equally as strong. She made three huge saves in the closing minutes, finishing with 14 saves overall., “She has been playing great.,” Thomas said. “She has her head in it. The last two minutes she made some great saves.”, The Panthers followed up the win by exploding for 19 goals in the win over Blair. Mundenar had six goals, while Mills and Hall added five apiece. Mills is hoping this final season at PDS goes well before she moves a few miles away to play for PU., “I am in the neighborhood, which is great.” Mills said. “I am very excited and my parents are very excited.”
