HEADING WEST: Princeton Day School boys’ lacrosse defender Chuck West, left, and goalie Ian Perez guard the crease area in a game earlier this season. Senior West has helped spearhead the PDS defensive unit this spring after playing goalie in his first three years with the program. The Panthers, who lost 14-2 to Hopewell Valley on Monday to move to 4-4, will next be in action when they start play this week in the Colonial Valley Conference (CVC) Tournament where it will host Ewing on May 7 in a first round contest. (Photo by Frank Jacobs III)

By Bill Alden

Having played goalie in his first three years on the Princeton Day School boys’ lacrosse team, Chuck West has taken on a new assignment in his final season as he has switched to close defense.

Moving out of the cage has been liberating for West. “It has been great, it has been a lot of fun,” said West. “I like running around on the field a lot more. I had a pretty good knowledge of where to go and what to do. The transition from seeing to actually playing it was a bit hard for me, now I am getting into it.”

Last Saturday, West ran around a lot as a shorthanded PDS team fell 16-2 at Notre Dame.

“I was pretty tired but we didn’t have any subs,” said West, noting that the team didn’t have some key players on hand due to hockey and soccer commitments. “We only had three poles, not even an extra stick so I just had to keep playing. It was a great team effort, we were missing a lot of guys. The ones that were here had to show up, give it their all, and learn something from the game.”

The Panther defense found its voice as it dealt with the high-powered Irish attack.

“I think as the game went on, we were talking more and just really got into it,” said West. “We were just giving it everything. We learned a lot about communication and just staying strong even when they are up by a lot. We didn’t cave into anything, we just kept fighting to the last play.”

West credited first year head coach Dave Donahue with instilling a fighting spirit in the squad.

“He has been great, he was an assistant last year so it hasn’t been as big of a change as it has been for the past few years,” said West. “As a team, our energy and chemistry is a lot better this year.”

Coach Donahue, for his part, believes his team will be better for the experience of battling Notre Dame.

“It is character building,” said Donahue. “I said to them it isn’t if you get knocked down, it is how quickly you get back after you get knocked down.”

The Panthers took some hard knocks as they fell behind 9-0 14 minutes into the contest before Krystian Rzeczycki found the back of the net to get the Panthers on the board.

“We were playing a super lacrosse team,” said Donahue. “They are well-coached, they have a ton of talent. They have 20 seniors and a couple of guys going to D-1 programs. One attackman is going to Army, one attackman is going to Rutgers. They are big and physical. We were missing about five starters.”

Donahue credited his squad with playing hard to the final buzzer.

“The most important thing is that we don’t give up ever and they didn’t,” said Donahue, who got a fourth quarter goal from Connor Paulmenn. “I like that so we want to build on this. What is amazing is how resilient teenagers can be.”

West’s performance against the Irish exemplified that resilience.

“Chuck was great, he knocked down half a dozen passes,” said Donahue. “He stopped a couple of shots. He probably had four or five ground balls. He is a great kid, he is going to the University of Michigan.”

Freshman goalie Ian Perez stood tall as he made 10 saves in the loss.

“He made about four saves in four minutes there,” said Donahue, whose team lost 14-2 to Hopewell Valley on Monday to move to 4-4. “He is unflappable, nothing really fazes him.”

With PDS starting play this week in the Colonial Valley Conference (CVC) Tournament when it hosts Ewing on May 7 in a first round contest, Donahue believes his squad will be competitive.

“Based on where I think our seed will be, we will probably have a game that we can win in the first round,” said Donahue. “I think we will probably have a mid-level seed.”

West, for his part, is confident PDS will raise the level of its game in the CVC tourney.

“I think we can a strong run if we have all of our guys,” said West.