October 29, 2014

PHS Field Hockey Doomed by a Bad Minute As It Falls to Lawrenceville in MCT Title Game

OVERDRIVE: Princeton High field hockey player Trish Reilly follows through on a hit last Thursday night in the Mercer County Tournament semifinals. Junior midfielder Reilly scored the winning goal in overtime as second-seeded PHS edged No. 3 Robbinsville 3-2. The Little Tigers went on to fall 3-1 in the title game on Saturday to fourth-seeded and four-time champion Lawrenceville. PHS, now 17-3, will start play in the North 2, Group 3 sectional, where it is seeded third and will host No. 6 Middletown South in a quarterfinal clash on October 30.(Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

OVERDRIVE: Princeton High field hockey player Trish Reilly follows through on a hit last Thursday night in the Mercer County Tournament semifinals. Junior midfielder Reilly scored the winning goal in overtime as second-seeded PHS edged No. 3 Robbinsville 3-2. The Little Tigers went on to fall 3-1 in the title game on Saturday to fourth-seeded and four-time champion Lawrenceville. PHS, now 17-3, will start play in the North 2, Group 3 sectional, where it is seeded third and will host No. 6 Middletown South in a quarterfinal clash on October 30. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

When the Princeton High field hockey team met Lawrenceville on September 24 in a regular season contest, the rivals battled to a 0-0 stalemate at halftime.

In the second half that day, PHS faltered as the Big Red pulled away to a 3-1 victory.

Having won 11 straight games since that setback, the Little Tigers were looking to flip the script when the teams met for a rematch last Saturday in the Mercer County Tournament (MCT) championship game at Mercer County Community College.

“We definitely need to be focused and go into the game ready to play,” said PHS senior star Julia DiTosto.

“I know with Lawrenceville that we didn’t really set the tone, that is one of our big issues, setting the tone.”

In the early going on Saturday, the Little Tigers showed focus, thwarting the potent Lawrenceville attack as the teams headed into halftime locked in a scoreless tie.

Unfortunately for PHS, history repeated itself as the Big Red got untracked in the second half, scoring two goals in a one-minute span on the way to a 3-1 triumph and the program’s fourth straight MCT title.

A somber PHS head coach Heather Serverson acknowledged that Lawrenceville set the tone in the title clash.

“We just didn’t make the adjustments that we needed to make; they stepped up to every free ball and we didn’t,” said Serverson, whose team dropped to 17-3 with the loss.

“We didn’t pressure in the center as well as we should have, which could have made a big difference in this game.”

Lawrenceville’s hustle to the ball took its toll in the second half when it took a 2-0 lead on goals with 24:44 and 23:51 left in regulation.

“I think we started playing more reactive,” said Serverson. “We didn’t continue to play our aggressive game.”

While PHS answered quickly with a Lucy Herring tally just 32 seconds after the second Big Red goal, it couldn’t find the back of the cage again and Lawrenceville tacked on an insurance goal with 9:50 left in the second half.

While Serverson was disappointed by the outcome, she was happy with her squad’s run to the title game.

“It is the first time a PHS team has made it here in a long time so we are definitely proud of that,” said Serverson of her team’s achievement, the program’s first county championship game appearance since 1998.

In Serverson’s view, the experience should help the Little Tigers as they head into the North 2, Group 3 sectional, where they are seeded third and will host No. 6 Middletown South in a quarterfinal clash on October 30.

“It is definitely something that I am glad they have under their belts at this point so that the pressure won’t have the same effect on them in the state games,” said Serverson.