Warren’s return helps PDS to prep title, solid record
By: Justin Feil
Alix Warren has been a steady contributor to the Princeton Day School girls’ ice hockey team over the past three-plus seasons. As a freshman, she helped the team win the prep championship while going 17-1-1. The Panthers’ record dipped to 14-7-1 when she was a sophomore, but Warren still contributed 10 goals and four assists.
Warren had to sit out all of last season due to serious injuries sustained in a automobile accident that killed her mother, but she remained active as a vocal leader for the team. Warren’s absence on ice was felt the hardest as PDS slipped to 9-8-1.
Her return this season as a senior has once again put the Panthers back on top. Warren led a defense that did not allow a goal while scoring the game-winning goal and assisting on another in a 6-0 win over Pingry in the prep state tournament semifinals and she assisted on a goal by Heidi Morse in the Panthers’ 2-0 win over Lawrenceville in the prep final.
Alix Warren is the Princeton Packet Athlete of the Week.
"Winning was huge for us," said the West Windsor resident. "We thought we had the advantage because we won the last game with Lawrenceville. All the seniors wanted to go out with a bang."
Warren is one of just five seniors on the Panther team that fell to 15-4-1 with a 5-4 loss to Warren’s club team, the Princeton Tiger Lilies on Wednesday. Warren has returned to the lineup and provided career highs of 18 goals and 10 assists. As obvious as her absence from the ice was last season is her presence on ice this year.
"She’s playing every man down situation, every man up situation," said PDS head coach Meghan Hishmeh. "She’s on the ice all the time. If we did plus-minus, she’d have the highest on the team. And her slap shot has been more offensive. We get a lot of our goals off her shot.
"Defensively, her anticipation skills and ability to read a play are top on our team. She did a great job of keeping the puck in the offensive zone."
In addition, Warren has continued her role as a verbal leader, but this year she’s been even more effective on the ice.
"She’s a great verbal motivator," Hishmeh said. "Her knowledge of the game, she helps all the girls understand hockey at a higher level. She is always positive. The girls really look up to her."
Warren’s skills will make her a valuable addition at any of the prep schools Choate, Exeter or Andover that she is looking to continue her career at next year as a post-graduate. She’s happiest to be leaving the Panthers when they appear back on top.
"It’s been exciting because both PDS and the Tiger Lilies (her club team) are doing awesome," the 18-year-old said. "We have two big tournaments left for each."
The Panthers host Holton Arms in their own PDS Invitational in what figures to be a difficult opener. PDS XXXXX to Holton Arms, X-X, in the teams’ first meeting. But Warren and the Panthers have shown a remarkable ability to shut down an opposing team. Lawrenceville, for example, had scored four goals in the teams’ first meeting, two in their second, but were shut out Saturday.
"We had everyone playing defense," Warren said. "We had forwards stahing really far back. Our players were covering everybody. They parked a lot of people in front of the net, and that’s how they got a lot of their goals in the first two games. I was definitely looking out for it. We had to get on everybody."
Warren credits the entire team, not just the defense, with the shutout. The Panthers allowed just 20 shots on goalie Courtney Bergh, and the senior came up with her third straight shutout.
"We have a lot more teamwork this year," Warren said. "For the last couple years, we haven’t played as a team. This year, no one’s trying to be the Wayne Gretzky of our team. Everyone is playing together. That’s the main difference."
But every once in a while, Warren has to dig deep to be a bit like Gretzky, if nothing more than to get the team going. Against Pingry, the Panthers looked timid on the offensive end until Warren’s goal broke the scoreless tie.
"It’s one of her strong points," Hishmeh said. "She skated all the way up the ice and deked the goalie. She knows exactlyu when to use her deke. She practices all the time in her driveway. She had missed twice, which is really rare for her, so she was just getting her groove back."
"I thought we just needed a goal to get going," Warren added. "We just needed to start scoring. Once we got going, we were fine. We have that problem sometimes no one shoots."
It makes the defense a little more important and it makes Warren play a bit more conservatively. Her role is as big as ever though.
On power plays, she’s at the point, the last line of defense before Bergh if the other team gets the puck. In offensive face-offs, it’s Warren that PDS is trying to get the puck to for a shot on net. And in a pinch, it’s Warren that comes up with some of the Panthers’ biggest plays.
It’s something that was definitely missing last season, and that showed in PDS’ record. It’s no coincidence. With Alix Warren back, the Panthers are once again prep state champions and heading for their best record in three seasons.