ON TARGET: Princeton High boys’ soccer player Aaron Thyrum, right, dribbles the ball in a game earlier this season. Last week, senior midfielder and tri-captain Thyrum contributed three assists to help PHS defeat WW/P-North 6-0. The Tigers, who fell 1-0 to Gill St. Bernard’s last Saturday in moving to 10-1, play at Steinert on October 9 and at Nottingham on October 14. (Photo by Frank Jacobs III)
By Bill Alden
Aaron Thyrum developed a connection to the Princeton High boys’ soccer program when he was a grade schooler.
“I have always been a Princeton High soccer kid; there is a picture of me and my dad at the Hunterdon Central game from like 2017, I was that much of a fan,” said PHS senior midfielder and tri-captain Thyrum. “As someone who has been around the program for almost a decade since I was eight or nine years old, it is just been something where it has been really, really special.”
Last week, Thyrum made some special memories as he contributed three assists as PHS defeated WW/P-North 6-0 as the program held its annual Senior Day celebration after the September 30 contest. He found classmate and fellow captain Chase Hamerschlag for the first goal and later the set up two goals by Andre Ansarah, another senior captain.
Getting honored with his fellow seniors meant a lot to Thyrum.
“As I have gone through the program, you understand how much value the seniors have not only on the field but off the field,” said Thyrum. “As a senior now being recognized it is more about the concept of being a senior at Princeton High. That is really important. I admired the guys in the past.”
Heading into the matchup against North, Thyrum and his teammates were determined to get off to a fast start.
“We knew that this was going to be a game if we jump on this team everything will eventually fall into place,” said Thyrum. “I knew that I have guys who can score goals like Andre and Chase. You look at last year, we had so much success. In the Monroe sectional game (a 1-0 win) and the CVC (Colonial Valley Conference) final (against Notre Dame and another 1-0 win), both of those goals came from set pieces. Set pieces are such an integral way of scoring when you need to. We scored four of them today. I was lucky to have three assists that came off of those. It was just about finding my guys and trusting guys.”
In Thyrum’s view, having scored six goals against Hightstown on September 27 and then getting six more against North should be a confidence builder for the Tigers.
“We are going into a tough three-game stretch here,” said Thyrum of the Tigers, who fell 1-0 to Gill St. Bernard’s last Saturday in moving to 10-1 and will play at Steinert on October 9 and at Nottingham on October 14. “There is no better way to start than to score a bunch of goals against some teams like these. At the beginning to the season, we would win games 1-0 or 2-0 and we would be feeling that we should be
winning by a lot more. We are definitely getting into the rhythm of things. Our guys going forward are definitely heating up.”
As a playmaking midfielder, Thyrum believes that paying attention to detail is the key to getting the Tigers into a rhythm.
“I feel like I am a guy that has been around a winning environment for such a long time so even if doesn’t come through goals or assists, it is just a matter of doing the dirty work,” said Thyrum, who now has two goals and a team-high six assists this fall. “It is doing the things that help a team get wins. Obviously in important games you will score goals and get assists. It is just a matter that as a senior you really just have to set the example. You have got to all of the little details right because little details are what win championships.”
PHS head coach Ryan Walsh lauded the contributions made by his senior group, which includes Declan Hughes, Isaiah de la Espriella, Abel Cristobal Guery, Angelo Morales-Rivera, Ivan Marinov, and Marko Mueller in addition to Thyrum, Hamerschlag, and Ansarah.
“This senior class has been fantastic,” said Walsh. “We lost a lot of guys last year so I put a lot responsibility on them to fill the shoes of the leadership that we lost. They have done a great job. Our captains Aaron, Chase, and Andre have been fantastic. The team is really starting to come together in the last two games.”
Thyrum’s skill on set pieces has helped things come together for the Tigers.
“Aaron was super sharp,” said Walsh. “Our set pieces early in the year weren’t great, we knew they would get better. Now they are really starting to find themselves. Aaron is hitting some great ones. Chase and Andre got on the end of some.”
Walsh was confident that the Tigers would find an offensive rhythm as the fall went on.
“We have been a lot sharper in the final third, it comes with time,” said Walsh. “We had a talk with our team last week about how difficult it is to score goals and finding a way to put the ball in the back of the net any way possible. It doesn’t have to be pretty, it doesn’t have to be perfect. All it takes in one game to build the confidence and now we are kind of rolling here.”
The Tiger defense has stood tall all season long, yielding just three goals in 11 games.
“It is eight clean sheets, our back four are all seniors, they have been fantastic all year,” said Walsh, whose defensive unit features Hamerschlag, Morales-Rivera, Ansarah, and Mueller. “They have really jelled together. We have two keepers who are playing and I have so much confidence in Declan [Hughes] and Ari [Rosenblum]. No matter who plays, I am really confident in them.”
Junior midfielder Tacto Yamada has played a key role in helping the Tigers jell.
“Tacto is playing such a role where you don’t get all of headlines,” said Walsh. “Over the years for us to win games, that holding center midfielder has to be so good. We have had some great ones in the past and he is really growing into that role. He links that back four to our attacking six.”
Looking ahead, Walsh believes the Tigers are in a great place with postseason play around the corner.
“I am really happy with the fact that we are still growing,” said Walsh. “We have gotten a lot better since August 18 and now we are going to get a lot better moving forward. We are halfway through the season now. We embrace the tests and this team is looking forward to the challenges. This team is on the right trajectory. They have done all of things that I have asked of them so far.”
Thyrum, for his part, is confident that the Tigers will do some big things when they get into tournament play.
“These guys know how to win,” said Thyrum, who helped PHS win both the CVC tourney and the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) Central Jersey Group 4 sectional tournament last fall. “We have a good amount of juniors and seniors on this team. It is just a matter of when you are around a winning environment for so long, you know how to win games. Even if it is scrappy goals or that kind of stuff, we all know what is necessary to win. I definitely think these guys have everything it takes to win everything we possibly can.