MEI DAY: Princeton High girls’ hockey player Meilan Hagt races up the ice in a game this winter. Freshman defender/forward Hagt produced a superb debut season for the Tigers, tallying 10 points on seven goals and three assists. PHS finished the winter with a 4-9 record. (Photo by Frank Jacobs III)
By Bill Alden
As the Princeton High girls’ hockey team went through the winter, the squad got contributions from more and more players.
By the end of the 2025-26 campaign, 17 players ended up with points as the Tigers went 4-9.
PHS head coach Christian Herzog enjoyed seeing so many girls chip in this winter.
“Rather than always being dependent on Taylor [Davidson], it is nice to see other people scoring goals,” said Herzog, whose team ended the season by falling 8-3 to Randolph in the quarterfinal round of the Annis Cup on February 9. “Mei-Mei (Meilan Hagt) came on a bit. Charlotte Woods, a volleyball star, had four goals. I didn’t see that coming.”
Junior standout defender/forward Davidson led the way for the Tigers, tallying 21 goals and five assists. She was a first-team All-Annis Division selection and the team MVP.
“Taylor is a class act on the ice, she leads by example,” said Herzog, noting that Davidson also served as an assistant team captain.
“As we got deeper into the season, she became more of a finisher and would take a little more direction. She wants to shoot the hardest shot and score the goal on the hardest shot. We told her the points count the same, just shoot it on the ice. She gives strong leadership. The best part about Taylor is that she knows that she is really strong in the sport but she is always trying to get the girls to buy in and always work hard. She is trying to set up everybody under the sun.”
At the defensive end, freshman goalie Juliana Funiciello gave the Tigers a lot of good work this winter, piling up 503 saves with an .893 save percentage.
“Juliana is exactly what every coach hopes for — a strong goalie to build your program around,” said Herzog of Funiciello, who was a first-team All-Annis choice and earned the team’s Coaches Award.
Another freshman, Hagt, produced a strong debut campaign, tallying 10 points on seven goals and three assists.
“The biggest thing about Mei-Mei is when she came in she already had hockey skill and all of that, where she needed to work and continue to develop was her level of confidence,” said Herzog, noting that Hagt was an honorable mention All-Annis selection and received the team’s Captains Award. “So I explained to her, you have got the green light, any time you can rush. If you see a scoring opportunity, go for it. Over time she became more confident. You can see that she is going to be a future leader on the team. I don’t just mean in her hockey prowess. She is always helping get the bags off the bus. She is picking up the garbage on the bus. She is doing all of the things that you look at and say, ‘all right, there is a captain.’”
Senior captain Jojo Vitaro did a lot of good things for the Tigers.
“Jojo was the ‘C,’ she is one of the hardest working players on the team,” said Herzog of Vitaro, who tallied one goal and three assists this season. “She never throws in the towel, she is always working hard. She is happy to help anybody. She was the once setting up extra stick time. She is very organized and motivated. She has a little bit of tenacity behind her, she gets a little rough when she needs to.”
Two other seniors, assistant captain Sophia Lee (2 goals, 4 assists) and Emily Yun (2 goals, 3 assists), were a big help this winter for the Tigers.
“Most of the season Sophia was double shifting in the role of center on the first line and on the third or fourth line with some of the newer players,” said Herzog. “She is always working hard. I think towards the end of the season she started playing a more physical game. Emily did a pretty good job, being newer to defense. She was honorable mention All-Annis. She started out as a forward and then we moved her to defense because she is one of the better skaters. She has a little bit of speed and knows positioning. She is a figure skater so she has those graceful strokes.”
While losing eight seniors will leave a void, Herzog is optimistic going forward.
“I have to find eight players for next season, supposedly some talent is coming in with a lot of seventh/eighth graders,” said Herzog, who will welcome back junior Alexis Brown, the recipient of the team’s Head, Heart and Hustle award. “Taylor, Mei-Mei, and Juliana is a good foundation. Having one more year of Taylor is great.”