With Senior Pawlak Spearheading Defense, PHS Girls’ Soccer Makes Sectional Quarters
As the most experienced defender on the Princeton High girls’ soccer team, Emily Pawlak has assumed a take-charge role on the backline.
“A lot of it is communication; I see the field; you will hear me yelling a lot, coaching people, telling them where to go and telling them what balls to play,” said senior standout Pawlak.
“At the same time, I shield for people. I see that as a good job of mine. If a ball gets through and our fullback misses it, I am normally there and I try to stop that. I am just the eyes of the team in the back.”
Last week as eighth-seeded PHS hosted No. 9 Burlington in the first round of the Central Jersey Group 3 sectionals, Pawlak and her defensive unit didn’t let anything through as the Little Tigers prevailed 1-0.
“We have some really fast fullbacks who were able to counterattack,” said Pawlak, reflecting on the defensive effort.
“Burlington had great speed up top and we were able to stop that easily. It was just some hard tackling and some aggressive play.”
After PHS took the lead early in the second half on a goal by junior star Taylor Lis, it had to hold off a Burlington squad that repeatedly pressed forward looking for the equalizer.
“That is concerning, you don’t want them to get momentum and we were trying to stall that as much as possible,” said Pawlak.
“It was tough because they were bringing a lot on us but I thought we played well; we really stopped that from happening.”
Pawlak liked the way PHS kept its momentum to the final whistle. “It was a good win, they were a tough team but we were able to play around them and play our game,” said Pawlak.
“Sometimes we get in the habit of not playing our game; we know we can do better at times. I was happy we played our game for the full 80 minutes.”
While Pawlak was unhappy to see her twin sister Shannon, PHS’s top offensive threat, get sidelined with a leg injury earlier this fall, she is proud of how other teammates have risen to the occasion.
“Shannon is always someone I could look for; my club coach always jokes that we have twin telepathy,” said Pawlak.
“When we play, somehow we always find each other. It is tough but we have some girls who filled her role. I think by now I can say we have had girls who have stepped up and played and shown that they can take the position but I miss her.”
PHS head coach Val Rodriguez was looking for her players to step up in the second half against Burlington after the teams played to a scoreless draw through the first 40 minutes of the contest.
“The message at halftime was that we did everything to show that we could win this game without putting numbers on the scoreboard and that’s what matters, proving it on the scoreboard,” said Rodriguez.
“We talked about spreading the field, playing quick, two-touch soccer and passing it around them.”
The PHS players responded well to Rodriguez’s message. “We used our outside mids really well and got some end line crosses off,” said Rodriguez.
“We had numbers in the box; that goalie had some tremendous saves. We had multiple opportunities and we haven’t been doing that recently so that was the piece of the play that has been lacking ever since Shannon Pawlak has been gone.”
In seizing opportunity to find the back of the net, the Little Tigers relied on a sister act as freshman Devon Lis set up older sister, Taylor.
“It was such a game-time decision, coach Wash [Kori Washington] said let’s try Devon because her corners are going to be more driven so Devon to Taylor was ideal,” said Rodriguez. “I thought Taylor had a solid game, she created some great opportunities.”
Rodriguez credited Pawlak with spearheading a solid defensive effort.
“Our defense is doing a good job of learning to contain, not biting, and staying on their feet,” said Rodriguez.
“Emily keeps everybody organized, she is a really important voice on the field. Emily is the engine back there, she organizes everything, she makes great decisions, when to step and when to contain, when to tackle, when to play feet, and when to clear. She really knows the game well.”
For a PHS team that has been hit with the injury bug this fall, winning a game in the state tourney was sweet.
“It is exactly what we needed, a tournament win,” said Rodriguez, whose team’s tournament run ended when it lost 2-1 at top-seeded Colts Neck to end the fall with a 9-7-2 record.
“We had a really tough game against Ewing in the counties that could have gone either way. It was really great to get a win today.”
Pawlak, for her part, was thrilled to get a win in her final appearance at home.
“This is my last game on the turf here,” said Pawlak. “I wanted to go out with a good game. There were nerves in the beginning but I just wanted to bring it and have a good way to end.”