ON POINT: Princeton High girls’ lacrosse player Emerson Barker, right, heads to goal in a game this spring. Sophomore Barker tallied 24 goals and eight assists this spring to help PHS go 12-10. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)
By Bill Alden
In 2024, an 11th-seeded Princeton High girls’ lacrosse team stunned sixth-seeded Montgomery 9-8 in overtime in the first round of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) North Jersey Group 3 tournament.
Heading into this year’s NJSIAA Group 3 North Jersey tournament, PHS was aiming to make history repeat itself as the 11th-seeded Tigers played at sixth-seeded Red Bank Regional on May 29.
In the early going, PHS was on track for another upset as it jumped out to a 6-2 first quarter lead. But this year, the Tigers couldn’t close the deal as Red Bank battled back to make it 7-7 at halftime and then pulled away to an 11-8 win.
“We came out pretty strong, Red Bank made some adjustments,” said PHS head coach Katie Federico, whose team ended the spring with a 12-10 record. “They had a good goalie (Nora Tavares) and the placement of our shots wasn’t great. She ended up with 12 saves. We unfortunately had a couple of turnovers and that just did us in there at the end. But really, we played lights out. We played all the way through to the final whistle.”
In reflecting on the season, Federico pointed to the team’s offensive balance as a major area of progress.
“I think our attack jelled a lot this year, we had a lot of different girls contribute on attack,” said Federico. “You never knew who was going to step it up there in a game whether it was through an assist or a goal. Many times we had many different players scoring which was really great. We are only losing four seniors so it is a pretty solid group coming back who have that camaraderie.”
The senior quartet of Aniya Zahid (18 goals, 3 assists in 2025), Ellie Naggar (16 ground balls), Lily vonRoemer (6 goals), and Alessandra DiBianco (2 goals, 3 assists) gave the Tigers some solid work this spring.
“Aniya was like the stealth attacker and then all of a sudden she would just rip a shot,” said Federico. “She has beautiful cuts. She timed her cuts nicely and would be there to receive the pass on the cut. Ellie stepped up on defense into a leadership role this year and was just a very big voice on defense which we needed. Lily and Allie would just jump in there and get a goal when it was needed.”
Junior Leah Bornstein made another jump in her game as she piled up a team-high 98 points on 63 goals and 35 assists and led the team in ground balls (125) and draw controls (105).
“Leah really grew into her leadership role this year,” said Federico. “Last year, I felt was a breakout year for her, it was huge. This year, I think she just had that confidence that she could do it and be there to make the plays. The biggest force in her having such a successful season this year was that confidence piece. She is just everywhere. She is always giving it 100 percent, even her jog is a sprint.”
Bornstein’s fellow junior and running mate Quinn Gallagher helped trigger the attack as she tallied 40 goals and 40 assists.
“Quinn sees the field really well, especially when she is down on attack,” said Federico. “She is probably the best at looking for the open girl to get the pass off. She really just sees it nicely and is able to execute the pass when it is needed. We have had her play a lot of low attack this year. Because she is lefty she was able to roll the crease and drive that way. Leah had great give-and-goes with her. They just have that seamless connection which was really nice. I was really happy for her this year.”
Sophomore Emerson Barker (24 goals, 8 assists), sophomore Clare Barlag (27 goals, 8 assists), junior Nicki Lee (20 goals, 16 assists), and junior Gracie DePrince (27 goals, 24 assists) each had nice seasons.
“Emmie reminds me of how Leah was last year, she broke out as well,” said Federico. “She joined us towards the end of last season. She has got such a wicked shot; when she gets there, it goes in. Clare is a learner of the game. She is always thinking about plays or different scenarios and loves sharing those ideas with the team. It was so great to have Nicki back this season and have such a successful season. Being injured most of last season, we really missed her. She has brought so much to the attack as well. Gracie is great at faking out the defender and going in for the backdoor cut. She really times them nicely. It will be nice to see what she can do next year.”
On defense, junior Zoie Reynolds (15 ground balls) and sophomore Lila Casto (42 ground balls) led the way.
“Zoie stepped it up a lot on defense because losing Josie [Lee] and Theona [Hsu] we had some big defenders there so having Zoie stepping into that role was great,” said Federico. “By the end they were starting to jell more as a unit. Lila is great, she has that natural instinct. She always seems to be there to grab the ball.”
The pair of junior Olivia DeLuca (111 saves) and sophomore Paige Menapace (82 saves) stepped up in goal.
“Both goalies are coming back too, they were pretty balanced and they had a great relationship with each other where they are so encouraging of each other,” said Federico. “They both played really well and they really improved a lot this year as well. I think it helped confidence wise because Olivia was hurt last year and Paige was starting to get a little more into it. This year, it was great for both of them to raise their confidence.”
Next year, Federico will watch PHS from stands rather than the sideline as she has decided to step down from coaching the team.
“I think they are going to have a really good season,” said Federico, who spent nine seasons with the program as an assistant and then head coach. “They have so much potential for next year and I am excited for them. I will be cheering for them. I can’t fully step away.”