ELBOW ROOM: Princeton Day School boys’ soccer player Aiden Luciano, right, elbows past a foe in a game earlier this season. Senior defender and co-captain Luciano has starred along the back line for the Panthers this fall. PDS, which fell 3-0 to Newark Academy last Saturday to move to 7-8, is competing in both the Prep B state tournament, the Colonial Valley Conference (CVC) tourney this week. In the CVC tourney, the Panthers are seeded ninth and will play at eighth-seeded Allentown in an opening round contest on October 23. PDS is seeded fourth in the Prep B competition and is slated to play at top-seeded Montclair Kimberley in a semifinal contest on October 25. (Photo by Frank Jacobs III)
By Bill Alden
As November approaches, the Princeton Day School boys’ soccer team is girding for a grueling postseason schedule.
The Panthers will be wrapping up regular season play as they compete in the Prep B state tournament, the Colonial Valley Conference (CVC) tourney, and the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) state tournament.
PDS head coach Gary Roberts likens the format to English pro soccer.
“New Jersey is almost like the Premier League where you have four competitions,” said Roberts. “You have the league, the CVC, which is like the Premier League. Then you have the CVC tournament and winning that would be like winning the Champions League. You have the Prep tournament which is like the league cup, the Carabao Cup. The Non Public is like the FA cup.”
The Panthers started postseason competition with a bang last week as fourth-seeded PDS defeated fifth-seeded Rutgers Prep 5-1 in the first round of the Prep B tourney on October 14.
Junior star forward and co-captain Keegan Fullman triggered the offense in the win.
“Keegan was implicated in five goals,” said Roberts, noting that Fullman contributed two goals and three assists in the victory. “Keegan has been wonderful. He has been just a super strong leader. He has got a perfect attitude. When he makes mistakes, he is very accepting of criticism. He wants to be coached.”
A pair of sophomores, Kriss Makkar and Mathias Ramos, also starred in the win as Makkar scored two goals while Ramos chipped in a goal and an assist.
“Kris had a very good game,” added Roberts. “Ramos has been playing well. They both had very good games. It was good for Kris’ confidence to get a couple of goals.”
Senior center back and co-captain Aiden Luciano has been playing very well all season.
“Aiden is the glue of our team,” asserted Roberts. “He is the biggest warrior on our team. He has the best attitude on our team. He has the most heart on our team. He has the most will on our team.”
Last Thursday, the Panthers showed their heart as they battled Allentown into overtime. The Redbirds scored with 10 seconds left in regulation to take a 2-1 lead and then PDS answered back with a buzzer-beater goal by freshman Nate Mogaka to knot the game at 2-2 and force overtime. While the Panthers ultimately fell 3-2, Roberts was proud of their resilience.
“It was unbelievable, I don’t think I have ever seen anything like it before,” said Roberts, noting the game was impacted by a ferocious wind and that the team that had the win at their back had a big advantage. “They scored with 10 seconds left and then Keegan kicked off to Aiden Luciano who was standing on the bottom of the circle. He hit a very good ball to the corner that fell to our left back Enrico Acunto. Enrico found Nate and he finished it. The clock hit zero it went in.”
PDS, which fell 3-0 to Newark Academy last Saturday to move to 7-8, will be starting play in the CVC tourney this week where it is seeded ninth and will play at eighth-seeded Allentown in an opening round contest on October 23. In the Prep B competition. the Panthers are slated to play at top-seeded Montclair Kimberley in a semifinal contest on October 25.
In the view of Roberts, the young squad figures to get some valuable experience as its goes through the playoff gauntlet.
“I am getting at least 16 or 17 players in every game, I think that is important,” said Roberts. “Some might get in for eight minutes, some might get in for 75. I have settled on a lineup that consists of three freshmen, starting David Li, Dylan Ritter and Nate. Dylan is a left-footed left back and he has been doing very well in there. Li is going to be a great player. Nicky Cardona has been a wonderful surprise. He has been playing great, he has been getting a lot of minutes as a sophomore. Nate has been great. Ramos has been doing very well. Grant Burns, the center back, is a sophomore and Robert Wei, the right back, is a sophomore. We have guys who come in Enrico and Beckett Dickler, they give us some minutes at outside back. They are also sophomores. Peter Longo and been a good contributor as has Arnav Sharma.”