Hoerner enjoys first taste of success
By: Justin Feil
Erin Hoerner has hardly known team success on the lacrosse field.
Mary McNutt has known barely any failure.
While others had plenty of doubts with a senior-less team, neither doubted that the Princeton High School girls’ lacrosse team would do well this season. The Little Tigers made a few more believers by improving to 8-1 with a 13-12 win over Princeton Day School on Friday and even shored up their own confidence.
"I didn’t think we’d do this good," said Hoerner, the PHS goaltender who stopped 12 shots Friday. "This is pretty unbelievable."
Hoerner, a Cranbury resident, was a first-year starter last season for the Little Tigers when they went 4-12. McNutt last year was a freshman playing for Redwood High in California when her team finished fourth in the conference. When she moved to PHS and saw the team that surrounded her in the lacrosse-rich state, she had a hard time imagining them winning just four games.
"When I first heard that their season was 4-12 I couldn’t believe it," said McNutt, a defender. "Our head coach, that was her 29th season. I was surprised that they had only won four games. But after Allegra (Formento) went out at last season’s PDS game, there was no season. They had Sarah Wright, Liz Haughton and Erin but their main player was Allegra. Sarah and Liz have improved so much keeping their heads up and improving on attack.
"I still can’t believe it. I can’t understand how that could happen. Our team is amazing now. I don’t see how that could happen."
With players like Hoerner and McNutt, the Little Tigers have made sure that won’t happen again. Formento led PHS with seven goals and Rebecca Schild added four goals while Wright had a goal and three assists. At the other end, McNutt and the defense were doing all they could to contain a Panther attack led by Katie Briody and Keely Langdon, both who scored four goals against PHS.
With PHS leading, 13-10, the Panthers cut into the lead with two unanswered goals before McNutt, Hoerner and the PHS defense buckled down in the closing minutes. First, it was McNutt nicknamed Beast for her aggressive play who knocked down several passes to thwart the Panthers.
After McNutt’s strong play, it was Hoerner that came up biggest in the waning seconds. Fighting lightheadedness all game, she dug deep in the end to come up with a pair of saves.
"She stepped up to the plate," Jones said. "She came up with two crucial saves that came down to the wire. She made two great saves when we needed them."
Explained Hoerner: "Even though I wasn’t feeling good, I had to play hard. We were up 13-10, then they scored two more times. I was thinking, ‘This is pretty serious. I have to forget about this stuff and start playing.’"
Hoerner has been a cornerstone of the Little Tigers’ success this season. She’s been consistent in games, and honed her skills in the offseason in the Peddie Indoor League. It’s helped her come back with a more determined attitude for her second year of starting in goal.
"I’ve grown a lot more confident in goal," she said. "Now I can step up."
She did Friday in a win that enabled PHS to already double last year’s win total. PDS, on the other hand, lost for just the second time in 12 contests this year. It marked another win of noteworthy quality for the Little Tigers, who also defeated one-loss West Windsor-Plainsboro North.
"We believe in ourselves," Jones said. "Now there’s an opportunity for others too. We’re a team to watch out for."
The Little Tigers have defied logic with their improbable success in the face of having such a young team. So much talk when they started so strongly was on how good they’d be next year. PHS is proving they have a chance at a special season this year.
"We know we’re already in states," Hoerner said. "I think we just like winning. We don’t want to lose. We want to get far."
The Little Tigers right now can’t get enough of their successes. The team was quick to embrace each other after another monumental win Friday.
"We all ran toward Erin, we knew she was the main reason we won," McNutt said. "Allegra did awesome as well. And Carter Haughton had a few amazing checks. She made check in head and we were all worried when she got a yellow card and she had to go out for three minutes. But we held it together and they didn’t score. It was a good win. It was a very exciting win. We’re still happy with the way our team is going."
McNutt is no stranger to success having tasted success last year in her first season of varsity play. Though she also plays tennis and basketball, her move to New Jersey has only served to strengthen her passion for lacrosse, her newest sport.
"I started because I just wanted to stay occupied in the spring to stay in shape for basketball," McNutt said. "I thought I’d give lacrosse a try and I just loved it. Lacrosse is huge out here. Since we’ve moved here, I’m hoping to improve my skills and go farther than high school maybe."
Hoerner, who gets the chance to see everything in front of her as the goalie, wouldn’t trade McNutt for any other defender. She saw Friday some of McNutt’s finest work in limiting a potent Panther attack.
"I think our defense is pretty amazing," Hoerner said. "We all know what we have to do and we get it done. Thank God for Mary. I don’t know what we would do without her. She’s all over the place."
She and Hoerner are part of a defense that is overshadowed at times by an offense that continues to emerge. And by never being satisfied even with a win as satisfying as Friday’s the Little Tigers have continued to progress in all areas.
"I think with each game, win or lose," Jones said, "we look at what we did well and build on that. If there’s area we need to focus on, we do it."
It’s enabled the Little Tiger girls’ team to stay at the top of area lacrosse, something that’s quite a jump for players like Hoerner who weren’t quite used to this level of success, but nothing new to McNutt. She wasn’t around to see last year’s PHS team, but she has a pretty good grasp on what she’s a part of this year.
"I think we’re the team that’s really improved the most out of all of them," McNutt said. "Coming from a season that was 4-12 to a season that’s 8-1, it’s unbelievable. We’re all excited. We’ve been doing a lot of team bonding. We’re all excited to see each other in the halls. Our boys are doing really well too. This is the year for Princeton lacrosse."