By Bob Nuse, Sports Editor
While it was Princeton Day School that came away with the state Prep B title, both the Panthers and Stuart Country Day School walked off the field having shown immense improvement over the course of the season.
PDS, which topped Stuart, 2-0, captured its first state title since 1998. In the process, the Panthers took another step forward as a program. After winning four games in 2014 and six games a year ago, the win total jumped to 16 during this championship season.
“It is so exciting,” senior Kiely French said. “I have been here since sophomore year and we didn’t have a chance sophomore year. Last year we lost to Montclair Kimberley and they ended up winning it. This year is so exciting.”
The Panthers had opened the season with a 7-0 win over Stuart. But the Tartans were a much different team at the end of the season and made their way to the Prep B final, where they gave PDS all it could handle.
“It was excruciatingly nerve-racking because at the beginning of the season we played them and we won by a lot,” French said. “We knew they would be a better team. Coming from that we should have played harder and I think throughout the game we did do that.”
The prep title caps off an impressive three-year stretch for the Panthers, who could not have envisioned winning a championship three years ago.
“I definitely hoped for it,” French said. “I think over time as we grew as a team we became closer and closer and we knew what each other’s strengths and weaknesses were and we were able to build on that. That was good.”
The Panthers reached the Mercer County Tournament final, where they lost to Lawrenceville. That experience likely helped in the win over Stuart.
“We had to regroup after the county final,” PDS coach Heather Farlow said. “Lawrenceville is a tough team. We just set our sights on winning the prep title. It feels good. I actually feel relieved. I felt like we couldn’t buy a goal there for a moment. We controlled possession but we just couldn’t put it away. A 1-0 lead is tough because if a team gets a fast-break goal they can change the whole momentum of the game. So getting that second one was big.”
Val Radvany scored both goals for the Panthers, who finished the season 16-4. It was a season that didn’t catch Farlow by surprise.
“I did think it was possible based on how we improved last year,” the PDS coach said. “And then at the beginning of the season seeing how we were performing against teams we had struggled against, I felt we could actually do this.
“We have a great deal of respect for Stuart. The girls knew that they haven’t had the most wins this season. But a school is looking to make their season based off today’s game. So we didn’t overlook them at all. The girls knew they had to come out hard.”
For Stuart, the trip to the finals was an exclamation point on a season that saw incredible improvement.
“I’m so proud,” said Stuart coach Missy Bruvik, whose team finished 5-11-2. “We played here the first game of the season on this field and we were just trying to figure out who we were. To see this kind of chemistry and improvement in every one of those kids is great. We had kids join our team after that first game and help our program. So we’re getting there. We took two steps this year. We knocked off that No. 2 seed and then the No. 3 seed and to have a chance to play the second best team in the county to that score is something I am really proud of.”
Alexxa Newman made 10 saves in goal for Stuart, which held off the vaunted PDS offense for most of the game.
“I thought Lexie, our senior goalie, did a tremendous job in her final game in the cage for us,” Bruvik said. “We knew they had powerhouses on the top line and in the middle and they were going to shoot. I thought defensively we did a pretty good job trying to mark them high.”
