GOING TO GOAL: Princeton High boys’ soccer player Isaiah de la Espriella, left, races to goal last Wednesday as PHS faced Hopewell Valley in the semifinal round of the Colonial Valley Conference (CVC) tournament. Senior forward de la Espriella tallied a goal and an assist to help third-seeded PHS rally for a 2-1 win over HoVal. The Tigers went on to lose 2-1 on overtime to Notre Dame in the CVC final on Saturday as they moved to 16-4-1. (Photo by Frank Jacobs III)
By Bill Alden
Isaiah de la Espriella had a rough first half for the Princeton High boys’ soccer team as it faced Hopewell Valley last Wednesday in the semifinal round of the Colonial Valley Conference (CVC) tournament.
PHS senior striker de la Espriella failed to cash in a couple of scoring chances and the third-seeded Tigers found themselves trailing seventh-seeded and host HoVal 1-0 heading into the second half.
Undaunted, de la Espriella was determined to shine in the second half.
“That first one, I made a little mistake there,” said de la Espriella. “In the second half I had to bring the energy. It was just keep working hard. I was working my butt off and making sure that my head doesn’t go down and that I keep my mentality up all the time.”
With PHS bringing senior star Chase Hamerschlag up from defense to forward to help spark the attack, that opened things up for de la Espriella.
“Chase is a great help, he can get the ball and just dribble up the field all by himself so that is amazing,” said de la Espriella “Having an extra striker up there with me is an amazing help for me.”
Taking advantage of that help, de la Espriella scored a goal and assisted on a tally by Hamerschlag as the Tigers pulled out a 2-1 win to advance to the CVC final on Saturday against top-seeded Notre Dame.
Just over five minutes into the half, de la Espriella slotted a pass from Alborz Khorsandi in the back of the net.
“I know I am really good with my left foot so cutting inside and hitting it with my left foot is my thing,” said de la Espriella. “I just had to hit it in.”
Just over 20 minutes later, de la Espriella turned playmaker as he passed the ball to Hamerschlag who blasted it past the HoVal keeper.
“We had the same exact sequence in the preseason with that kind of ball,” said de la Espriella.
“I know it was a bouncing ball, I looked up for a second and I saw him running. I had to give him that through ball because I know that kid, he is fast, he is huge.”
PHS head coach Ryan Walsh credited de le Espriella with coming up huge after his shaky start.
“It really shows his mentality of having a short memory,” said Walsh. “If something bad happens, it is OK, just get the next one. His goal was super class. He was very calm on the ball, picked his head up and found a spot in the goal to shoot at. It was great.”
It was a great feeling for de la Espriella and the Tigers to get back to the CVC final where they prevailed 1-0 over Notre Dame in the 2024 championship game.
“I am really proud of our team,” said de la Espriella of the Tigers who ended up falling 2-1 in overtime to Notre Dame in the this year’s final. “Going into the season a lot of people didn’t think we would get that far because of all of the seniors who graduated. I am so proud of what we have done so far and I am ready to keep working.”
As for de la Espriella, he worked hard to carve out a key role for PHS this fall.
“I didn’t have all of the recognition coming up from last year,” said de la Espriella, who now has 14 goals and one assist this season after getting just one assist last season coming off the bench. “I worked my butt off in the offseason to get where I am at right now and I am going to keep working. My most important thing that I try to keep in my head is stay consistent. It doesn’t have to be with goals, it has to be your mentality and keeping a cool head.”
And with de la Espriella keeping his head in the clutch, PHS earned another shot at a CVC title.