KEY MOMENT: Princeton Day School boys’ soccer player Keegan Fullman, right, battles for the ball in a game earlier this season. Last Thursday, junior forward Fullman scored two goals to help second-seeded PDS defeat 10th-seeded St. Rose 3-1 in the quarterfinal round of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) South Jersey Non-Public B tournament. The Panthers, who edged 11th-seeded Morristown Friends 1-0 in a semifinal contest last Monday to improve to 9-12, play at top-seeded Ranney School in the sectional final on November 13. (Photo by Frank Jacobs III)
By Bill Alden
Even though the Princeton Day School boys’ soccer was mired in a six-game losing streak, getting outscored 25-3 in the process, heading into the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) South Jersey Non-Public B tournament, the squad was confident that it could make a deep run in the tourney.
“We have been talking about it before it started, we are very excited to make a run,” said PDS junior forward and co-captain Keegan Fullman. “We definitely know we have the squad depth, ability and skills throughout the whole lineup to go real far.”
As the second-seeded Panthers hosted 10th-seeded St. Rose in the quarterfinal round of the tournament last Thursday, they got off to a shaky start, falling behind 1-0 four minutes into the game.
“We gave up the first goal,” said Fullman. “We know it wasn’t a good goal, it should never have happened.”
Showing his leadership, Fullman urged his teammates to press forward and the Panthers responded with a goal by senior defender and co-captian Aiden Luciano off a corner kick 24 seconds later.
“I was trying to get everyone hyped, saying heads have to stay up, we are going to get one,” said Fullman. “We went down and got a corner and we scored off of that. Once we scored that, you could feel that we were going to get more. We had lots of momentum after that.”
With the foes knotted in a 1-1 tie heading into the second half, Fullman kept the momentum going for the Panthers, scoring two unanswered goals as PDS prevailed 3-1.
Fullman’s first tally came on a nice feed from freshman Nate Mogaka just five minutes into the second half.
“Nate had a very good game,” said Fullman. “He got the ball near the middle. I saw him turn and I knew right away that I was going to make the run inside. I got the ball and it was take him on and slide it in.”
With 4:05 left in regulation, Fullman struck again as he knocked a rebound into the back of the net.
“I was hoping I was going to get the cross but it went off the keeper and it went straight to me and I slotted it in,” recalled Fullman.
Leading the Panthers with 11 goals, Fullman has solidified his role as the go-to finisher for the squad.
“It is knowing what to do, it is more awareness for me,” said Fullman. “I feel like I have gained a little more awareness of where I am and where it needs to go. I would still like myself to do better. I always dream of improvement.”
On Monday, the Panthers kept doing well as they edged 11th-seeded Morristown Friends 1-0 in a semifinal contest to improve to 9-12. PDS will now play at top-seeded Ranney School in the sectional final on November 13.
In Fullman’s view, the squad needs to stay all in to keep its tourney run going.
“It is the maturity, staying locked in and not messing around at practice,” said Fullman. “It is knowing what we have in front of us and not letting it take advantage of us and think that we are going into games thinking we are going to win it easily. It is keep on staying focused.”
PDS head coach Gary Roberts liked the focus his players brought to the field against St. Rose.
“We had an unbelievable week of practice, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday with the boys,” said Roberts. “Because the league is hard, I gave them off Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday last week so they were super fresh. Our practices this week were the best since preseason.”
Roberts credited Fullman with making a super play on the go-ahead goal.
“Keegan was great the whole time, he has to clean up a little more of them,” said Roberts. “We practiced that play on the second goal the whole week because of the weakness on their right side.”
Mogaka, who set up the goal, is developing into a strong player for the Panthers.
“Nate could check it and receive it with his left foot and play that ball to Keegan, that was exactly how we set that up to play,” said Roberts. “He is fantastic, he is going to be a superstar. He has got a spirit and a good cockiness.”
Senior star Luciano displayed his fighting spirit as he refused to let the Panthers lose.
“This is one of the best human beings I have ever coached,” said Roberts. “He is the only senior, he is our captain. He was not losing, he was not ending his career right now.”
While the PDS defense had some shaky moments, it tightened up down the stretch.
“We knew the game was going to get ugly as it goes down to the end,” said Roberts. “They were brave. You have to be brave back there in these games. You have to meet challenges and they accomplished that.”
Roberts believes that Panthers can accomplish some big things this fall.
“Our goal is to get at least one step further than we did last year,” said Roberts. “We know what is on the other side in North Jersey, but we have to get one step further than we got last year when we got to the final. Now we have to win it.”
Fullman, for his part, saw the win over St. Rose as a harbinger of things to come.
“We are looking at the teams and we see that we are the two seed,” said Fullman. “We are very excited about who we are going to play. We feel like we made a statement for everyone out there in this game and the other games ahead.”