PDS girls soccer claims Prep B crown
By Justin Feil, Assistant Sports Editor
Kirsten Kuzmicz is retiring from soccer at the age of 17, and she’s going out a winner.
The Princeton Day School senior’s year did not begin ideally, but it ended as well as she could have imagined as she assisted on Madison Coyle’s game-winner in the Panther girls’ 1-0 win over defending champion Morristown-Beard in the Prep B state championship Sunday.
”I was really happy about the win today,” Kuzmicz said. “We had a game plan and we followed the game plan in order to win today. I was really happy for the team and I was really happy for all the seniors we could go out on a high note.”
Following a back injury that kept Kuzmicz away from club soccer and training all summer, she suffered a concussion in her first game with the Panthers this season.
”I had a lot of struggles with injuries,” said Kuzmicz, who will focus on lacrosse in college after years of pounding her body for soccer. “I was out the whole summer with a back injury, and my first game I had a concussion so I’m out for two and a half weeks. Coming back and going full force, it was hard.
”I wasn’t in the best shape. I trained hard. I got back in good shape for the end of the season. It was tough. Mentally, it messes with your head.”
The Panthers overcame plenty to go 12-4-3. PDS wishes that it only had to deal with Kuzmicz’s injury, but there were others. The Panthers never played at full strength all year, and it seemed par for the course when they were down three starters and lost two more in the first half against Mo-Beard.
”You kind of have to go with what you have,” Kuzmicz said. “Everybody is on board. Injuries are injures, we had to go forward. We couldn’t let that stop our team. Everybody had to stay focused and not let the injuries bring us down. We had them on the sidelines, and they were big supporters for us.”
The Panthers only started the season with 20 players on their roster, and injuries thinned it further. They had players in different spots to make up for their losses, and they leaned on their bright future.
”A lot of girls stepped up today,” said PDS head coach Patrick Trombetta. “A lot I didn’t expect.”
Freshman goalie Grace Barbara was sensational in goal. She kept Mo-Beard off the board in the first half when they had the wind.
”The second half, the wind was a big factor,” Trombetta said. “They had the wind at their back in the first half. Their best opportunities came in the first half. They had a couple chances in the second half, but not that many. When we held them scoreless at the half, I told the girls, ‘This is our game.’ I told them we have the wind.”
Kuzmicz’s freshman sister Rebecca was impressive in marking an All-America striker, Mo-Beard’s top scorer, and Coyne came up huge. Not only did the freshman move back to play defense, but she came out of the back to score the game-winner with 16 minutes to play in the second half.
”One of my roles as a midfielder is to stretch the field,” the elder Kuzmicz said. “I knew we had Maddie on the outside. I hit it in that space and she took it on and I was yelling ‘shoot, shoot.’ The wind helped but she had a lot of power on it. It went in and I’m proud of her for that.
”My sister was guarding an All-America player,” she added. “She basically shut her down. Abby (Atkeson, a sophomore) shut down their big playmaker. I was proud of them to step forward and give it all they could for the last game. It was a shame to see Alexis (Davis) go down because she was playing so well. Maddie, she’s a freshmen, she scored the winning goal. Grace had a phenomenal game. They had at least three shots that should have scored. I couldn’t be more proud of the freshmen, sophomores, all the underclassmen.”
It wasn’t so long ago that Kuzmicz’s class was showing such promise in coming in and contributing early. Erin Hogan, Alexa Soltesz and Stef Soltesz along with Erin Murray, Jamie Thomas and Kelly Tarcza were critical in the Panthers’ success through the years, and all of them could rejoice in the triumphant finish.
”It’s really special,” Trombetta said. “If you look at the seven seniors on our team, we had half of them out with injuries. They never won a prep final. We came up short last year to this same team. Last year, they moved game on us and we had to go back-to-back. It shows with some rest, the girls were prepared and wanted it bad. It’s a great way for us to finish the season.
”This senior class, four of them have been with me four years — Kirsten, Hogan and the Soltesz twins. They’ve been the core of this team for four years. It was an especially rewarding way for them to go out. Having a Mercer County championship in junior year and a prep championship in their senior year, it’s very special way for them to go out.”
They set the tone for the program, and leave it in good hands. They can pass it along too the rising upperclassmen, who will try to keep the titles coming.
”I think it looks bright for them,” Kuzmicz said. “It’s sad to leave, but I know they’ll be in good hands. They’ll rebuild and work together.”
And with a little healthier season and some championship experience back, the Panthers could set themselves up for another winning end.
”I couldn’t be more happy with the way things turned out,” Kuzmicz said. “Everyone was kind of upset when we got out in the first round of the Mercer County Tournament since we won it last year, but we had to keep our heads up and get ready for the state tournament. We came up with our game plan and followed it every game.”