COMEBACK KIDS: Hun School boys’ lacrosse player Trevor Deubner unloads the ball in a game last year. Last Wednesday, sophomore star attackman Deubner scored two goals to help Hun rally from a 6-3 halftime deficit to defeat Princeton Day School 10-8 in its season opener. In upcoming action, the Raiders play at the Lawrenceville School on April 7. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

By Bill Alden

Having lost its annual clash against local rival Princeton Day School the last two years, the Hun School boys’ lacrosse team was fired up to turn the tables on the Panthers when the foes met last Wednesday to open the 2018 season.

“It was our first game last year and again this year; we have been thinking about it all offseason,” said Hun sophomore star Trevor Deubner. 

“While we were in Arizona for preseason, we were thinking about it. We definitely had this game circled on our calendar.”

The Raiders were off their game in the early going, trailing 6-3 at halftime. 

“I think possessing the ball is big, we definitely didn’t do that in the first half,” said Deubner. “Man for man, I felt like we were more athletic than them, but they are a really well coached team and a great program.”

In the third quarter, Hun seized momentum, scoring two unanswered goals to draw within 6-5 heading into the fourth.

“After the first half, things started to work well and click and everyone played well,” said Deubner. “I really felt that momentum in third period; we just let that take off.”

PDS tallied early in the final frame to go up 7-5 but Hun responded with five unanswered goals to pull away to a 10-8 win. Deubner scored the go-ahead tally to give the Raiders an 8-7 lead with 5:07 remaining in regulation.

“I just tried to the get to the net; Connor [Green] is a great goalie and I have played with him before and he has made a lot of saves on me,” said Deubner, reflecting on the pivotal.

“I just saw an opening, took it, and scored. I didn’t have that much trouble getting to the net; it was just finding the right time sticking it.”

Deubner was proud of how the Raiders took control of the contest down the stretch.

“That is what we were going to do straight from the beginning. It was great to pull away at the end,” said Deubner, who ended up with two goals in the win.

After struggling at times last spring in his debut campaign, Deubner drew confidence from his strong opening day performance.

“In the first few games, I suffered an injury with my back. It was not as good a year as I wanted to have,” said Deubner. “I am a lot happier. I am really healthy and ready for everything to go well this year.”

Hun head coach MV Whitlow was happy to see his squad overcome the halftime deficit in topping PDS.

“We just said stay the course, do the little things, keep your composure, keep hustling, and make the little plays,” said Whitlow, reflecting on his halftime message.

“We felt confident the whole time, even when we were down 6-3. A lot of these guys were young guys last year and what we are focusing on is growth. We are trying to educate them and empower them to be great decision-makers. When they do that on the field, they see the immediate success.”

Whitlow acknowledged that it is not easy to succeed against the Panthers.

“Give PDS a lot of credit. They are very well coached, their guys played incredibly hard,” said Whitlow. “I have a lot of respect for their coaches. I think any time you win, it builds confidence. We feel like we have built our own confidence by how hard we worked in the preseason and offseason. The confidence is there because the kids have put the work in.”

Whitlow has confidence in Deubner’s ability to be an offensive catalyst for the Raiders.

“Trevor is a natural quarterback with great vision,” added Whitlow, who got two goals and an assist from Devon Tavani in the win with Devon Cowan chipping in three goals and Gabe Craven making 11 saves in goal.

“Teams game-plan for him but he is complemented by some other good players, like the two Devons and Jackson Barletta. Sam Uva did a great job in the second half on face-offs and Gabe Craven made some great saves in goal.”

In Deubner’s view,  coming through against PDS should be a spark for Hun going forward.

“We have the talent in practice when everything goes well,” said Deubner. “We needed a win under our belts to uplift us and just get ready for Lawrenceville (on April 7) and the opponents that we have coming up.”