RAISING THE BAR: Princeton High girls’ lacrosse player Clare Barlag heads upfield in a game earlier this spring. Last Wednesday, sophomore attacker Barlag scored a career-high four goals to help PHS defeat Robbinsville 13-10. On Monday, Barlag chipped in one goal as fifth-seeded PHS defeated 12th-seeded Lawrence 16-4 in the opening round of the Colonial Valley Conference (CVC) Tournament. The Tigers, now 9-6, will play at fourth-seeded Hopewell Valley on May 7 in a CVC quarterfinal contest with the victor advancing to the semis on May 9 at Allentown. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

By Bill Alden

For Clare Barlag, a pair of ankle injuries last spring ruined her freshman season for the Princeton High girls’ lacrosse team.

Barlag was limited to some scrimmages in 2024 and appeared in one game before getting sidelined for the rest of the campaign.

Looking to make an impact this spring, Barlag was determined to get back to full speed.

“It took a lot of work to get everything balanced,” said Barlag.

“I think I have gotten a lot quicker and have more flow with my body. My trainers helped me be less sluggish on the field which helped a lot.”

Last Wednesday, Barlag was in the flow, scoring a career-high four goals to help PHS top Robbinsville 13-10.

Coming off a tough 17-10 loss to Notre Dame on April 28, PHS jumped out to an 8-2 lead over the Ravens.

“Things were clicking with our passing, we weren’t having many drops so we were doing really well with that,” said Barlag, who scored one goal in that run. “We were playing good. We wanted to bring energy in this game because in our last game against Notre Dame we got scored on multiple times and we had a letdown.”

Things clicked for Barlag in the second half as she tallied three goals to help the Tigers hold off a Robbinsville rally.

“I felt frantic in the first quarter so I just decided to erase my thoughts and just take my time and wait for my right angle to shoot,” said Barlag.

Barlag’s final goal of the day came early in the fourth quarter on a brilliant feed from Leah Bornstein.

“I saw that coming and I just waited to make my cut the right way at the right time so I could get around and get my hands free,” said Barlag. “It helped a lot to wait a sec and then go.”

As the season has unfolded, Barlag has been getting into a groove.

“It is getting better,” said Barlag, who plays outside of PHS for the Triple Threat Elite club program. “I haven’t played attack in two years but it is good to get back in the flow of shooting and cutting.”

The influence of older brother, Braden Barlag, a senior star attacker for the PHS boys’ lax squad, has been an inspiration as she has worked to improve her skills.

“I watch all of his games; his speed and flow of his stick and just changing levels of his stick inspired me to do that too,” said Barlag. “We started at the same time. I went to all of his games and it just made me want to keep going harder so I could be as good as him.”

PHS head coach Katie Federico liked the way the Tigers started against Robbinsville.

“We came out really strong and kept our space,” said Federico. “It was good, quick passing and then just adjusting as the game goes on. They do have a good team and that is what I said to the girls before today. They are a well coached team, they are a scrappy team. It is never an easy game.”

Barlag’s strong performance in the game was a plus for the Tigers.

“Clare really had an awesome game today,” said Federico of Barlag, who has now tallied 18 goals and seven assists so far this spring.

“In practices, she is always open and and she has a nice strong shot. She was able to put it into play, today was really nice. She was seeing the openings and was able to make them.”

PHS displayed a balanced attack against Robbinsville as Bornstein tallied three goals and three assists with Quinn Gallagher chipping in two goals and two assists and Nicki Lee contributing two goals.

“Quinn and Leah do a really good job,” said Federico. “Nicki had a couple of goals and had some good passes back there. There is a lot of versatility there on attack which is nice that we can use.”

The Tiger defense was keyed by tandem of sophomore Lila Casto and junior Zoie Reynolds.

“They are pretty unstoppable. I love watching them play,” said Federico. “Lila was really tough out there today. They just have that aggressiveness in a very composed way and composed manner. Zoie is just such a solid defender.”

Sophomore Paige Menapace, who has been sharing time at goalie with junior Olivia Deluca, made 10 saves against Robbinsville.

“Paige had some really good saves, it is nice that we can interchange her and Liv,” said Federico.

With fifth-seeded PHS going on to defeat 12th-seeded Lawrence 16-4 in the opening round of the Colonial Valley Conference (CVC) Tournament last Monday to improve to 9-6, Federico believes the win over the Ravens was a major confidence builder.

“I think we needed that after Notre Dame and Allentown (an 11-4 loss on April 25),” said Federico, whose team will play at fourth-seeded Hopewell Valley on May 7 in a CVC quarterfinal contest with the victor advancing to the semis on May 9 at Allentown. “Today, we were really able to maintain our composure and hold it throughout the game which was really nice.”

In Barlag’s view, the performance against Robbinsville was a step forward.

“I think we are going to build on this to make our defense a little more disciplined,” said Barlag. “We have to be a little more with our feet rather than our sticks. On offense, I feel like we did pretty good today with keeping variety of who was scoring.”