By Bob Nuse, Sports Editor
The Princeton High boys lacrosse team seems to have a habit of finding itself in close games., The experience of playing in those close games paid off for the Little Tigers on Tuesday, when they scored late and then held off a man-up situation in the closing seconds for an 8-7 win over Allentown in the Mercer County Tournament semifinals., With the win, Princeton improved to 8-6 on the season and advanced to the MCT final against defending champion Princeton Day School. The final was scheduled for Thursday night. It is Princeton’s first trip to the finals since winning the tournament in 2014., “We’ve lost a lot of close games this year,” Princeton senior Justin Marciano said. “I think four or five of our losses have been one-goal games where I think we kind of just let up at the end. Today we didn’t let that happen. Even with that penalty at the end. Max Garlock really stepped up at the end. He is our man-down player and when he is in there he takes advantage of it at the end.”, In a back and forth game where no one ever took control, Princeton got a goal from sophomore Dylan Westerman with 1:44 to play in the fourth quarter to take the lead. The defense then held on at the end of the game to give the Little Tigers the win., “Dylan is a sophomore and he is a buddy of mine,” Marciano said. “We run on the same midfield line together. He is just a super talented athletic player. He had a shoulder injury earlier in the season and we are really lucky to have him back. He has a cannon of a shot. We’re lucky to have him.”, Westerman scored the winning goal off an assist from Marciano. The sophomore finished the game with four goals, while Marciano had three assists. Owen Smith scored a pair of goals, while Johnny Lopez-Ona and Eammon McDonald each scored a goal. McDonald was injured in the opening quarter and that put Westerman into a bigger role, which he responded to in a big way., Leo Godefroy and Sawyer Peck combined to make 10 saves in goal for the Little Tigers., “The last time I was in a county final was my freshman year and I was just one of the JV kids on the sidelines,” Marciano said. “That year we had a miracle win with a last-second goal and then an overtime goal., “We’re definitely on our way. The next game is the game to step up and hopefully have that perfect game.”
