TAYLOR-MADE: Princeton High girls’ hockey player Taylor Davidson races up the ice last Friday as PHS hosted Cranford at Hobey Baker Rink. Junior star Davidson scored two goals in the game as the Tigers lost 5-3. PHS, now 0-4, is next in action when it faces Cranford on January 6 at Warinanco Park in Elizabeth. (Photo by Frank Jacobs III)
By Bill Alden
Although the Princeton High girls’ hockey team faded down through stretch in a 5-3 loss to Cranford last Friday evening at Hobey Baker Rink, Taylor Davidson saw reason to be encouraged.
“It is only our fourth game,” said PHS junior star and assistant captain Davidson, reflecting on the setback which dropped the Tigers to 0-4. “This is the best game we have had for sure.”
Davidson had a very good game, scoring two goals as the Tigers battled back from an early 2-0 deficit to knot the game at 3-3 heading into the third period.
Davidson got PHS on the board as she found the back of the net with 2:04 left in the first period.
“I found myself stick handling a lot,” said Davidson. “When I used my speed and did the simpler play, that was working out better.”
After Tiger freshman Meilan Hagt scored on a slick backhand flip early in the second period to knot the game at 2-2, Davidson got loose on a breakaway and buried a shot to put PHS up 3-2 midway through the period.
“I saw around the girl,” said Davidson, reflecting on her second tally. “So rather than trying to go through people I tried to take the outside lane and get myself into the middle which ended up working out.”
Cranford responded with a goal less than a minute later to make it a 3-3 game and then scored two unanswered goals in the third period to pull out the win.
Davidson acknowledged that PHS had trouble holding the fort in the final 15 minutes of the contest.
“We had it a lot more in our defensive zone,” said Davidson. “They were getting some shots. We were trying to still be aggressive in the corners.”
As one of the more experienced players on the squad, Davidson has been taking more of a leadership role this winter.
“I have always been a part of the team but now I am trying to have more of a dynamic role and talk to everyone,” said Davidson. “Now that I am not a younger kid, I have more ability to do that. I think that we have a super good environment, everyone wants to be here.”
Davidson is developing a good connection on ice with one of those younger players, freshman Hagt.
“Today we played more shifts together than other games, so that was fun,” said Davidson. “I think it is nice to be able to pass it around to Meilan. We had some power plays so we could use that.”
In addition to triggering the offense, Davidson had been playing a number of shifts on defense.
“I am definitely trying to see the game more defensively because in club I play offense,” said Davidson, who plays with the Princeton Tiger Lilies club program. “Cap (PHS assistant coach Dom Capuano) helps me out a lot with where to put myself defensively because sometimes I lose my position a little bit.”
PHS head coach Christian Herzog credits Davidson with helping PHS out a lot all over the ice.
“Taylor is a workhorse; I think the hardest thing for Taylor is to not try to do too much,” said Herzog. “She has to pick and choose her chances because if she tries to rush every time she runs out of gas as anyone would. She wants it more than anyone which is great. She has that on-ice prowess where people look up to her and when she puts one away, the whole team gets behind her.”
Herzog was happy to see Hagt find the back of the net.
“Meilan put one between the pipes low,” said Herzog. “It is good to see her gain some confidence. She scored in the last game too.”
The Tigers have quickly gained a lot of confidence in freshman star goalie Juliana Funiciello, who made 35 saves against Cranford.
“She is the greatest addition to this team we have had,” said Herzog of Funiciello, who has recorded 196 saves in her first four games, including 86 stops in a 10-0 loss to the Hoboken hockey tri-op on December 10. “She plays Tiger Lilies, so she is not new to the game. She is constantly the hardest working person own the ice and she does it with a smile. It is almost laughable because you know how hard she is working. I don’t even have to criticize her, she is her own toughest critic. She will come and say, ‘That goal between my legs, that is unacceptable.’ She is really good at the angles.”
A pair of seniors, Jojo Vitaro and Sophia Lee, have been giving the Tigers some good work this season.
“Jojo has been pretty stellar in terms of leadership, she gets in your ear a little bit,” said Herzog. “She is not afraid to be a little bossy, she has the captain’s C. I have Sophia as well, she is a first line center and has been working hard. She is an assistant captain. You can count on her, she is going to give 100 percent every single time.”
Herzog liked the effort he got from his players against Cranford.
“It is a step forward,” said Herzog. “A few different bounces and it is a very different game. They had a little more depth and experience. The girls can see that all of the teams aren’t necessarily super powerhouses and that we can play with a team.”
With PHS returning to action by facing Cranford in a rematch on January 6 at Warinanco Park in Elizabeth, Herzog is looking for the Tigers to generate more scoring chances.
“The reality is that we have gone from one shot a game to 15-20,” said Herzog. “It is still a little lopsided. I don’t care if we have Patrick Roy in net, the best you are getting is a tie if we don’t score a goal.”
Davidson, for her part, sees being more aggressive in the crease area as a key point of emphasis in getting PHS over the hump in close games.
“As a team, we should try to get some people in front of the net to get rebounds,” said Davidson. “We almost had one down there in the third period. That will help us out a lot if we have some people right in front of the goalie. We are just going to keep progressing through the season.”