ON THE BALL: Princeton Day School boys’ soccer Mathias Ramos, right, dribbles the ball in a game last fall. Sophomore midfielder Ramos is primed to emerge as a star this season for PDS. The Panthers host Peddie on September 5 and WW/P-North September 9 as it gets its 2025 season underway. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)
By Bill Alden
Youth is being served this fall for the Princeton Day School boys’ soccer team.
“We are super young but the group is mature in a collective sense,” said PDS head coach Gary Roberts, who guided the Panthers to an 8-14 record and the final of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) Non-Public B tournament last fall with a roster featuring nine seniors. “I had a scrimmage the other day and I started six sophomores, two freshmen, one junior, and one senior.”
Junior Keegan Fullman (9 goals, 4 assists in 2024) is showing maturity at the offensive end.
“Keegan has been brilliant, he scored three goals in our scrimmage,” said Roberts, whose hosts Peddie on September 5 and WW/P-North on September 9 as it gets its 2025 season underway.
“His physicality stands out, he is even thicker than he was. He is a young man.”
Roberts believes that two freshmen, David Li and Nate Mogaka, can emerge as standouts this fall.
“David is an MLS NEXT player,” said Roberts. “Nate plays for the Players Development Academy (PDA), he is a left-footed player. They are both excellent soccer players.”
The PDS midfield features several promising players in sophomore Mathias Ramos (1 assist), sophomore Arnav Sharma (1 assist), junior Aiden George (2 assists), sophomore Kriss Makkar, sophomore Peter Longo, freshman Dylan Ritter, and sophomore Nicky Cardona.
“Mathias is a different player this year, he has learned what high school soccer is,” said Roberts. “He is a playmaker, he is kind of like a John Stockton. He is still small but he is a lot bigger than he was. We have Arnav, he is a verbal leader on the team. We have Aiden, a lot is going to dependent on his physicality because he is like 6’2. He is a defensive midfielder and center back, Kris is playing in there. Peter is also playing in there. On the outside, we have freshman who will be contributing Dylan. Nicky will be contributing.”
Along the back line, sophomore Grant Burns, senior Aiden Luciano, sophomore Robert Wei, sophomore Beckett Dickler, sophomore Enrico Acunto, and sophomore Chase Weisel will be getting minutes.
“We have a lot returning as far as back line was by the end of the year,” said Roberts. “We have Grant and Aiden at center backs. Robert started last year, he played right back. We have a mix at left back between Beckett, Enrico, and Chase. The sophomores have come in with a lot more swagger than they had last year, you can see it. They are way less timid and more confident in themselves. It is kind of their team.”
The biggest question mark for the Panthers will be at goalkeeper where senior Connor Lemole is a newcomer to the position and will be taking over for Oren Yakoby.
“Connor is a baseball player; he is extremely raw but he is athletic enough to make saves,” said Roberts. “He has been working all summer on his game. Him and Aiden Luciano have been spending time together; Aiden has been shooting on him. The goalkeeper coach Matt [Weigner] has been working with him. I can’t believe how much effort he puts in.”
In the view of Roberts, the squad possesses plenty of skill to go with its effort.
“What I have noticed is that we are really good with the ball,” said Roberts. “We can hold on to the ball tactically and technically because everybody plays real soccer. Every player is a year-round soccer player. We are less athletic but more tactical and more technical. We have to watch when we lose the ball how we recover. What is really going to be a challenge is how we deal with long balls.”