WORKING OVERTIME: Princeton High boys’ soccer player Tacto Yamada, right, battles for the ball against Hopewell Valley last Wednesday in the Colonial Valley Conference (CVC) semis. The third-seeded Tigers edged seventh-seeded HoVal 2-1 in the game and then went on to lose 2-1 in overtime to top-seeded Notre Dame in the final last Saturday. PHS, now 16-4-1, will be competing in the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) Central Jersey Group 4 tournament where it is seeded fourth and was slated to host 13th-seeded South Brunswick in a first-round contest on November 4 with the victor advancing to the quarterfinal round on November 7. (Photo by Frank Jacobs III)
By Bill Alden
With the Princeton High boys’ soccer team missing two key starters as it faced Notre Dame in the Colonial Valley Conference (CVC) tournament final last Saturday, Tacto Yamada and his teammates were ready to fill that void.
“Chase and Marko play a really crucial part of the team, I feel like we had to step up our game a little,” said junior midfielder Yamada, referring to senior defenders Chase Hamerschlag and Marko Mueller who were not on hand for the final due to other commitments.
The third-seeded Tigers did step up, battling top-seeded Notre Dame all over the field, rallying from a 1-0 second half deficit to force overtime before falling 2-1 to the Irish.
Yamada helped PHS hold the fort as the Irish pressed forward, generating a number of scoring chances.
“I think it was well done,” said Yamada. “They are really good attackers. We just had to stay contained, keep the ball and just try to slow the game.”
With the foes knotted in a scoreless draw midway through the second half, Notre Dame broke the ice with a goal to forge ahead with 21:33 left in regulation. The Tigers answered back with a tally from Simon Danos Peltekian seven minutes later.
“We just had to stay resilient after their goal,” said Yamada. “We just know that being so resilient and forcing more attacks was going to create more chances.”
In the waning moments of the contest, PHS nearly pulled out the win as Isaiah de le Espriella got loose in the box and his shot was punched over the crossbar by the Irish goalie. As the Tigers headed into overtime, they were confident they could overcome the Irish but Notre Dame converted a corner kick three minutes into the first OT to earn the title.
“In OT we pumped ourselves up,” said Yamada. “After we scored the first goal, we knew that we were going to score another one, the golden goal, but we couldn’t do that unfortunately.”
Yamada has picked up his game this fall, emerging as a key performer from his defensive midfield spot.
“Last year, I was on the bench most of the time,” said Yamada, who also stars for the PHS boys’ tennis team. “This year I was able to get closer to my friends and my team. We have a lot of good players on our team surrounding me and I am glad that I have been able to play with them.”
PHS head coach Ryan Walsh knew that he had the players to make up for the absence of Hamerschlag and Mueller.
“We were missing two guys, I laugh when everyone was mentioning that to me,” said Walsh, noting that junior Alborz Khorsandi and sophomore Bram Reynolds II filled in admirably as they moved into the starting lineup for the game. “We are missing two guys but we are not playing nine guys, we are still playing with 11 guys. We have a lot of really good players on this team. Alborz and Bram were great. Bram grew up right before our eyes today.”
Walsh was not surprised to see his squad battle back from the 1-0 deficit.
“This team is so resilient, the message to the team was that it was all about a good response,” said Walsh. “Somebody is going to score in this game but who responds better is going to win this game. I thought our response was so good, we didn’t panic. Simon brings a lot of energy off the bench. For him to put that ball away, there was a lot of pressure on him.”
The last ditch shot by de la Espriella nearly put the game away game for the Tigers. “The goalie made a great save there, oh my gosh,” said Walsh.
The Tigers defense produced a great effort in containing the Irish with sophomore goalie Ari Rosenblum making six saves.
“The last 20 minutes of the half, I thought we played really well,” said Walsh. “We were just building into the game. I really trusted our back four. They earned my trust, that is for sure. Ari controls the box so well and he is also only a sophomore. He has grown up so much this year.”
Yamada has shown a lot of growth this season. “We gave him a big challenge today to really try to slow down Luca [Ercolano],” said Walsh. “He was up for it. He is such a great player and such a great athlete. He is a good tennis player too. He is so smooth, strong, fast and fit. He will do whatever I ask him to do. I wish I had 24 Tactos on this team.”
With PHS competing in the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) Central Jersey Group 4 tournament where it is seeded fourth and was slated to host 13th-seeded South Brunswick in a first-round contest on November 4 with the victor advancing to the quarterfinal round on November 7, Walsh believes his squad is primed for another tournament run.
“The next 48 hours will be tough for these guys but we will come back on Monday and we will be OK,” said Walsh. “We have another tournament starting on Tuesday and we have won it two years in row. We are going to have more success this year.”
In the view of Yamada, the run to the CVC final will help the Tigers succeed in the state tourney.
“We are going to be good for the states,” said Yamada. “I think from this game, we can learn that we are able to fight back from a deficit and keep fighting.”