KEY PERFORMER: Princeton High boys’ soccer player Kian Asiaie (#7) prepares to boot the ball up the field in recent action. Last Thursday, junior midfielder Asiaie scored a goal to help PHS edge Lawrence 2-1. The Tigers, who fell 1-0 to Cherokee last Saturday in moving to 13-2-1, are starting action in the Colonial Valley Conference (CVC) tournament where they are seeded third and will host 14th-seeded Ewing in a first round contest on October 23 with the victor advancing to the quarterfinal round on October 25. (Photo by Frank Jacobs III)
By Bill Alden
Kian Asiaie experienced a bit of a bumpy ride last fall as he moved up the Princeton High boys’ soccer varsity squad.
“As a freshman, I was on the freshman team; as a sophomore last year I started during the start of the season,” said Asiaie. “Before playoffs, I fractured my ankle. I came back for sectional final and I got about 10 minutes. It was hard recovering. It was a much smaller role, it was more about working hard rather than the technical stuff. This season with so many graduated seniors, everyone had to step up.”
Last Thursday night as PHS played at Lawrence, junior midfielder Asiaie stepped up, scoring a first half goal on a feed by Bram Reynolds to give the Tigers a 1-0 lead.
“Bram did an excellent job, he played that ball in,” said Asiaie. “I thought I was a little too late but I threw myself in and I was so happy when I saw it in the back of the net.”
PHS took a 2-0 lead in the second half on a tally by Chase Hamerschlag, but Lawrence responded with a goal with 24:36 left in regulation to cut the Tiger lead in half. Over the rest of the half, PHS held on for dear life, repelling a number of Lawrence attacks to pull out a hard-earned 2-1 victory.
Asiaie was not surprised to see the Tigers hold the fort down the stretch of the contest.
“We have been in a lot of close games this season, we have a lot of 1-0s and 2-1s,” said Asiaie. “Right when they scored, I knew it was going to be a hard game. I was 100 percent sure that we were going to be able get it over right.”
In his role as holding central midfielder, Asiaie helped PHS stymie the Cardinals.
“Our defensive effort has always been amazing with our back four,” said Asiaie. “Me and Tacto [Yamada] and Ivan [Marinov] were coming in from the midfield. The whole team defends together. It is such a good moment, I am so happy that we got it over the line.”
With PHS starting action in the Colonial Valley Conference (CVC) tournament this week where it is seeded third and will host 14th-seeded Ewing in a first round contest on October 23 with the victor advancing to the quarterfinal round on October 25, Asiaie believes that battling through tight contests will make the Tigers tough to beat.
“All of the games coming up are basically finals, we knew this was basically a final,” said Asiaie. “Mentally you have to be strong. This team is amazing. Mentally, physically we are a great team. We are so connected at Princeton.
PHS head coach Ryan Walsh liked the way his team started, highlighted by the goal from Asiaie.
“I thought we had a really good first half,” said Walsh. “That goal was a great ball by Bram and a fantastic finish by Kian.”
Noting that Asiaie and Yamada are unsung heroes, Walsh was happy to see that effort result in a tally.
“Kian and Tacto play that holding center mid and we ask them to do a lot of the dirty work,” said Walsh. “It was great for him to get rewarded with a goal.”
PHS had to do some dirty work collectively to pull out the win over the Cardinals.
“Lawrence made some changes and they are a good team,” said Walsh. “They have seen crafty guys going forward. When you are winning games, sometimes you have to kill off the game. It is not always pretty, it is kind of the Princeton way.”
Senior defender and co-captain Hamerschlag showed killer instinct along the back line for the Tigers.
“Chase is the rock back there for us,” said Walsh. “He is the only returning starter back there — we trust him a lot.”
At the offensive end, seniors Isaiah de la Espriella and Aaron Thyrum have earned the trust of their coach.
“I thought Isaiah had a really good first half, he is scoring some goals for us,” said Walsh, noting that Thyrum assisted on Hamerschlag’s goal. “Aaron had a lot of great set pieces tonight.”
As PHS heads into postseason action, Walsh believes that playing under the lights in a tense contest is good prep for the challenges ahead.
“This is our third night game in 10 days so it is not the first time we have been in an environment like this,” said Walsh, whose team fell 1-0 to Cherokee last Saturday to move to 13-2-1. “I think the guys took some stuff away from the previous night games so they are ready for this environment.
It is good to get battle-tested before the tournament.”
Asiaie, for his part, is confident that the Tigers will be up for the playoff battles.
“We know we are going to have these games week in, week out,” said Asiaie. “It is just stay focused, stay fit, and just keep grinding it out.”