D-ZONE: Princeton High field hockey star Julia DiTosto swats the ball in recent action. Sophomore defender DiTosto has been a key performer for PHS as it has produced an 11-2 record. The Little Tigers are seeded second in the Mercer County Tournament and are slated to play No. 15 Steinert on October 20 in an opening round contest. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

After cruising to a 10-1 start this fall, the Princeton High field hockey team hit a speed bump when it played at the Princeton Day School last Thursday.

Generating 12 shots but unable to find the back of the cage, PHS fell 1-0 to their crosstown rivals.

While the Little Tiger players were hanging their heads after coming up on the short end of the nailbiter, PHS head coach Heather Serverson believes the setback could be a blessing in disguise for her squad.

“I thought we played well; we just weren’t finishing,” said Serverson. “They caught us off-guard; we are not used to that speed of play. It is a good thing that we lost to them because now we are ready for that. The girls honed in on that; they brought it up and I think we are going to focus on that tomorrow.”

While Serverson noted that some of her attacking players weren’t up to speed, she credited PDS with setting the tone in the midfield.

“Seventy-five percent of our forwards are ill right now; they are not their normal speedy selves but that’s no excuse,” said Serverson, whose team rebounded from the loss to the Panthers by beating Steinert 4-0 last Saturday as Sydney Watts, Emma Crain, Vivien Bazarko, and Jackie Chmiel all scored goals.

“I think the impact today was more in the midfield; I don’t think our midfield today was playing cohesively. We weren’t adjusting. They were very fast with the passing and we weren’t playing the good roll defense that we worked on all day yesterday.”

The Little Tigers had trouble breaking down the PDS defense even though they played with a heightened sense of urgency down the stretch of the game.

“We didn’t have the number of opportunities that we normally have,” said Serverson, whose team did generate four penalty corners in the last five minutes of the contest against the Panthers.

“I think percentage-wise it really stuck out because normally we get more opportunities so we put more on goal.”

In Serverson’s view, PHS has a great opportunity to do damage in postseason play.

“I think we just need to pick up the speed of the game; we need to play with intensity right from the start,” said Serverson, whose club, now 11-2, is seeded No. 2 in the Mercer County Tournament and is slated to play 15th-seeded Steinert on October 20 in an opening round contest.

“I think we are still gaining that confidence. They are not used to being a winning team so they are defensive at first. Once we put in a goal, then everyone starts to go and say oh yeah we are Princeton. We need to get the ball down there more often. We need to get more opportunities because once we start, we don’t stop.”

TOUCH AND GO: Princeton Day School girls’ soccer player Kirsten Kuzmicz boots the ball in recent action. Sophomore midfielder Kuzmicz has provided the Panthers with offensive production and physical play this fall. PDS is going through a rough patch, having gone 0-5-1 in its last six games. The Panthers, now 3-7-3, will look to get on the winning track when they have a game at Abington Friends School (Pa.) on October 17 and then begin play in the Mercer County Tournament on October 20. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

For much of its game against visiting Hill School (Pa.) last Wednesday, the Princeton Day School girls’ soccer team controlled possession of the ball.

But letting its guard down for a five-minute stretch in the first half, PDS’s good work went for naught as it fell 5-2 to the Blues.

PDS head coach Pat Trombetta acknowledged that the Panthers wasted that possession, committing miscues at the wrong time.

“If you look at the possession, we possessed the ball most of the game,” said Trombetta, whose team trailed 4-0 at intermission, surrendering three goals in a decisive five-minute stretch midway through the first half.

“We made a lot of mistakes, we turned the ball over in the back. That hurt us today.”

PDS did fight back in the second half, displaying some sharper soccer. “We played better in the second half; we showed more composure in the second half and we put two away,” said Trombetta, who got goals from Kylie Kieffer and Britt Murray.

“We had a couple of golden opportunities that we didn’t cash in on in the first half. If you get on the board first, you have a little momentum and things can happen from there. Unfortunately we didn’t convert on the chances that we had and they cashed in on our mistakes.”

In Trombetta’s view, his club has been snakebitten in a recent stretch which has seen it go 0-5-1.

“I knew the schedule was competitive,” said Trombetta, whose team fell 2-1 in overtime to Lawrence High on Friday before tying Hopewell Valley 1-1 on Saturday.

“The Peddie game (a 1-0 loss on October 2) was an unbelievable game. It went to double overtime; we had chances and they converted on a corner kick. The Blair game (a 1-0 loss on September 29) was a tough game. The Lawrenceville game (a 4-2 loss on October 5) was really a 3-2 game. We gave up an easy goal at the end of the game when we were knocking on the door. I don’t look at it as being outplayed; I look at it as making mistakes. You can’t make mistakes at this level because good teams are going to convert on them and beat you.”

In order for the Panthers to get back on the right track, Trombetta believes his team needs to fine-tune things around the goal at both ends of the field.

“Our distribution in the back needs to improve,” said Trombetta, whose team entered this week with a 3-7-3 record.

“We have been speaking a lot about playing better defensively and offensively in the box. We are getting opportunities but we have been inconsistent. We put three on the board against Hun, we had two on the board against Lawrenceville so we are scoring against good teams. But then we come up with a couple of goose eggs against Blair and Peddie.”

Despite the team’s recent struggles, Trombetta is confident that his players can still produce a good postseason run.

“Today is not a good feeling but overall I have been very pleased,” said Trombetta, whose team plays at Abington Friends School (Pa.) in October 17 before starting play in the Mercer County Tournament on October 20.

“Coming into today, this is one of the teams that probably had been the most consistent since I have been here. We fell flat today but we can definitely make noise come tournament time.”

MAKING HIS MARK: Princeton Day School boys’ soccer player Marco Pinheiro dribbles the ball in recent action. The skilled play of sophomore midfielder Pinheiro has been a bright spot for a PDS team that fell to 2-8-2 with a 7-0 loss to Pennington last Friday. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

Having won just twice in its first 11 games, the Princeton Day School boys’ soccer knew it faced an uphill battle last Friday when it hosted a powerful Pennington squad that has just two defeats in its first 13 games.

For the first 33 minutes at Baker Field, PDS held the fort as the teams played to a scoreless stalemate.

But after a disputed corner kick and penalty kick led to Pennington goals, the roof fell in on the Panthers. PDS gave up anther goal in the first half to fall behind 3-0 at intermission and then surrendered four unanswered goals in the first 17:03 of the second half on the way to a 7-0 defeat.

PDS head coach Malcolm Murphy acknowledged that the sequence late in the first half changed the tone of the contest.

“We had some good work in the beginning,” said Murphy, whose team moved to 2-8-2 with the loss.

“That changes the psychology; they took charge in that last seven or eight minutes and we just couldn’t recover from that. You can’t take it away from them, they are good players.”

In Murphy’s view, his players can gain a lot from going against such high level competition as Pennington.

“I was actually proud; the one thing I did like is that we did say that we were going to play soccer throughout the game rather than just whack it up the field,” said Murphy, citing the efforts of sophomore Marco Pinheiro, junior Culver Duquette, and senior Willy Cara.

“We can use this as a great experience because there are not that many teams around like Pennington.”

With the Panthers having lost five straight games since wins over the Solebury School and the Blair Academy, Murphy knows that his team’s resilience is being tested.

“You just have to recognize who can come through it psychologically tight,” said Murphy, whose team hosts the Hill School (Pa.) on October 17.

“I thought this was the best game of possession that four or five of these kids have played because when we have been playing teams below our level, we have dropped to their level. Today we actually came with a game plan and tried to push it through.”

Now, Murphy is hoping his team can make a good push in postseason play as it competes in the state Prep B tourney and the Mercer County Tournament (MCT).

“If we can manage to defend like that and learn how to break out of the back, we have a chance in the Prep Bs,” said Murphy, whose team is seeded 17th in the MCT and will face No. 16 Hun on October 18 in a play-in game with the winner facing top-seeded Allentown in the first round on October 20.

“We are also doing the counties. We are going in so we can give some of the players a better chance.”

GOAL HAPPY: Princeton Day School field hockey player Emma Quigley celebrates after a goal in recent action. Last Saturday, junior forward Quigley scored two goals as PDS topped Blair 5-0. The Panthers, now 5-1-2, host Solebury School (Pa.) on October 3 and Morrisville High (Pa.) on October 5 before playing at Montgomery on October 9. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

After losing to Lawrenceville last Thursday to suffer their first defeat of the season, Emma Quigley and her teammates on the Princeton Day School field hockey squad knew they had to play more as a unit.

“That was not one of our best games; we didn’t start off on a good note,” said junior forward Quigley, reflecting on the 4-2 loss to the Big Red. “Coach [Tracey] Arndt wanted us to pass more and let the ball do the work.”

As the Panthers hosted Blair Academy last Saturday, it didn’t take long for them to regain their offensive rhythm. With Quigley and senior star Andrea Jenkins finding the back of the cage, PDS jumped out to a 2-0 halftime lead over the Buccaneers.

Just over 10 minutes into the second half, Quigley scored again and minutes later Jenkins tallied and the rout was on as PDS cruised to a 5-0 victory and improved to 5-1-2.

In Quigley’s view, bouncing back with the victory over Blair should get the Panthers back in the right track.

“I think this game has really pumped up our spirits for the next couple of weeks,” asserted Quigley.

“We have Montgomery and Princeton High, which are going to be really tough games. It can only get better from here. We are climbing up the mountain of success.”

For Quigley, who has been scoring a goal a game this fall, her success has come, in part, from the work she has put in with the Total Dutch Field Hockey club.

“I have played club non-stop since last season and that has improved my game so much,” said Quigley.

“I practiced for the festival [USA Field Hockey’s National Hockey Festival] I practiced for the Disney [Showcase] and then I did indoor and my spring team all summer. I am practicing for festival now. I have improved so much from that.”

The arrival of new head coach Arndt, a former All-American at Penn State and national team member, has helped PDS improve collectively.

“She has really created and made our team a unit; we are so close on and off the field,” asserted Quigley.

“In practice everyday we do stuff that really helps us improve in the games; we do specific stuff that we didn’t do in the game before so we do that in the next game. I think our team as a whole has gotten so much better; it helps the forwards in general to get the ball and get it in the goal.”

PDS head coach Arndt saw improvement from her team in the win over Blair.

“During the game, when we had our moments of really good play it was when we were looking to pass it more than dribble,” said Arndt.

“We have some players on the team who the other teams know they have the skill and they are sending two or three girls at them so we need to pass quickly. That’s what we were focusing on as well as our Finishing. To get five goals in any game is hard and I am glad that we were able to do that.”

The Panthers did learn some lessons from the Lawrenceville defeat. “Lawrenceville was a great game because it showed us our weaknesses,” said Arndt.

“I think Lawrenceville was a very good team; they were solid, they were fluid and quite frankly they beat us to every ball and that was hard to recover from. So that was something we really worked on yesterday. We have got big games coming up. We have to be thankful that we were able to pull out a win today but know that we still have to come in on Monday and work hard.”

Quigley has certainly been giving PDS some good work. “Emma has got a lot of speed up front which is good,” said Arndt.

“The one thing you need to be a scorer is the want to score and she does. She scraps those balls and she is able to get in good spots and she puts it away. She can see the goal and see where the holes are so that’s been good.”

The Panther backline has very few holes with the trio of senior defenders Corinne Urisko, Cami McNeely, and Zeeza Cole together with senior goalie Sarah Trigg.

“The three that we have back there and Sarah Trigg in goal have been really solid for us,” said Arndt.

“They have really listened to what we have asked them to do and have executed. Our marking still needs to improve and that’s something we are continuing to work on. That is a team thing.”

The play of juniors Sarah Brennan and Mary Travers in the midfield has helped hold the team together.

“Sarah and Mary in the center are nice; they are double threats in that they have their attacking skills and they have their defending skills as well,” added Arndt.

While the Panthers have displayed plenty of skill in their first eight games, Arndt wants to see the team to be more cohesive on the field.

“To have only lost one game is good,” said Arndt, whose team hosts Solebury School (Pa.) on October 3 and Morrisville High (Pa.) on October 5 before playing at Montgomery on October 9.

“We had done some really good things in the beginning that we have been losing a little bit recently in terms of our basic skills so I think our focus for the next week is the fundamentals and to really start to play as a team. The more we play fluidly and as a team the more we can rely on everybody and not just one person.

Quigley, for her part, believes that PDS can do some really good things as the fall unfolds.

“We have really high hopes; we have some great team goals,” said Quigley. “We really hope that we can get up there and give it our all and make this a great year.”

FINISHING TOUCH: Princeton Day School girls’ soccer player Alexa Soltesz controls the ball in recent action. Last Friday, sophomore striker Soltesz contributed a goal and two assists as PDS topped the George School (Pa.) 3-2. The Panthers, now 2-2-2, play at Rutgers Prep on September 27, host Blair Academy on September 29, and then play at Peddie on October 2. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

Alexa Soltesz may be just a sophomore but she knows the Princeton Day School girls’ soccer team is depending on her to provide scoring punch.

With high-scoring forward Janie Smukler having graduated, the Panthers need the skilled striker Soltesz to be a productive finisher.

“My coach [Pat Trombetta] and I talked before the season that I had a big position to fill,” said Soltesz.

“I think I am doing a pretty good job with it but she was a really big loss. She was a great player.”

This past Friday, Soltesz did some pretty good things, scoring a goal and assisting on two others as PDS topped the George School (Pa.) 3-2.

In reflecting on her goal, which opened the scoring late in the first half, Soltesz acknowledged that she poached a tally away from fellow sophomore Kylie Kieffer.

“I saw my teammate Kylie coming onto the goal; she called me off while I was running but I kind of got in her way,” said Soltesz.

“I feel a little bad about it but I am happy to put one on the board; it really got our team up.”

Soltesz did pay Kieffer back, setting her up on the Panthers’ second goal. “I saw her there; I owed her one,” said a smiling Soltesz, recalling the tally which put PDS up 2-1.

On the team’s final tally, which gave the Panthers a 3-1 advantage, Soltesz booted a towering corner kick that Kirsten Kuzmicz blasted home. “I just started to take corners last game and it is working,” said Soltesz.

After not scoring a goal in PDS’ first four contests, Soltesz believes she is starting to get in a groove after breaking the ice with a tally in a 3-3 tie with Hun last week.

“I think I was in kind of a slump,” said Soltesz. “One gets me going, as my father always says.”

Playing with her twin sister, Stefany, a star sweeper for the Panthers helps get Soltesz going.

“We have been playing together since we were two years old,” said Soltesz. “We used to play offense together.”

PDS head coach Trombetta liked the way his squad played better and better in the George game.

“We started a little shaky; our decision-making wasn’t the best for the first 20 minutes,” said Trombetta, whose team improved to 2-2-2 with the win over the Cougars.

“We settled down as the game went on. I think in the second half we took complete control of the game. The possession play was better; we got more girls involved in the play.”

In Trombetta’s view, Soltesz is getting settled into her role at striker. “Alexa is starting to pick it up; she started off slowly,”  said Trombetta.

“I think the game against Hun where she scored on a corner broke the ice for her. The first goal is the toughest so that opened it up for her. She is doing really well now.”

Sophomore midfielder Kieffer has been opening things up for the Panthers.

“I thought Kylie Kieffer had an excellent game for us today; she had one goal and one assist,” said Trombetta.

“She is a player we had on defense last year but this year we have moved her up to midfield because she has great touch with the ball and excellent decision-making. She was placing some nice through balls to our outside mids and then she scored the go-ahead goal.”

PDS is getting some excellent play from senior forward Kelsey Scarlett. “Kelsey creates a lot of the opportunities out there,” said Trombetta.

“She is a person we can move around a lot on the field because she is very versatile. Having her on the field with her senior experience helps out a lot, she has just got a great attitude.”

The foundation for the Panthers’ solid start has been some good work at the defensive end of the field.

“For the most part, our defense has been playing really well,” said Trombetta.

“Brit Murray is a solid defender; we always put her on the other team’s biggest weapon. She does a great job as does Stef [Soltesz] at sweeper. Kelly Tarcza coming from Steinert is a physical player out there. You need a presence like that on the field sometimes.”

PDS needs to fine-tune things as it faces some big challenges in the next week when it plays at Rutgers Prep on September 27, hosts Blair Academy on September 29, and then plays at Peddie on October 2.

“I think our decision-making and spacing has to get better,” said Trombetta. “We have just completed one-third of our season and I am looking for our composure to get better. Our possession has to get better.”

Trombetta believes his players have what it takes to get better. “We have a great group of girls; they are hardworking,” said Trombetta.

“I have complete confidence that they will be able to handle the tough stretch that is ahead of us.”

Soltesz, for her part, shares Trombetta’s confidence in the group’s prospects.

“I am really proud of us,” said Soltesz. “We did a great job today. I love this team.”

FAST START: Princeton Day School field hockey star Andrea Jenkins races up the field in recent action. Senior midfielder/forward Jenkins came up big last week, scoring two goals in a 6-1 win over Stuart Country Day on September 11 before chipping in a goal in a 2-0 triumph over Prep A power Peddie on Thursday and then scoring the game-winner in a 2-1 overtime victory at Hopewell Valley last Saturday. PDS, now 3-0-1, hosts Academy of New Church (Pa.) on September 21 before playing at South Hunterdon on September 24. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

After the Princeton Day School field hockey team generated a total of one goal in three preseason scrimmages and tied Germantown Academy (Pa.) 2-2 in its season opener, Andrea Jenkins sensed that the Panthers were about to break out offensively.

“In practice, we have been working on our movement and cutting,” said senior star Jenkins.

“We have new positioning and tactics so I think us playing with each other the last few days has really helped.”

That work paid dividends last week as the Panthers rolled to a 6-1 win over Stuart Country Day School to earn their first win of the season and the first victory in the PDS tenure of new head coach Tracey Arndt.

“It is a great feeling getting the first win for the new coach,” said Jenkins, who scored two goals in the win on September 11 with junior Emma Quigley chipping in two and Mary Travers and Bian Maloney scoring one apiece. “I think it worked out really well.”

Jenkins’ first tally in the win came on a rush up the side of the field finished off with a blast that rattled off the back of the cage. She displayed her savvy and coolness under fire on her second score which came on a penalty stroke 10 minutes into the second half.

“All my coaches tell me to look to one part of the net and show the goalie you may be going that way and then fake it and go to the other side,” said Jenkins, who kept up her clutch play, scoring a goal in a 2-0 win over Prep A power Peddie on Thursday and then knocking home the game-winner in overtime in a 2-1 victory at Hopewell Valley last Saturday.

“At first it is kind of nerve-wracking but I have gotten used to it from practicing.”

Jenkins has certainly gotten used to playing with junior standout Quigley, who also scored in the victory over HoVal.

“Emma has definitely gotten better from playing club this year,” said Jenkins. “Our passing has gotten smoother than it has been.”

Learning from older sisters Mariel and Sydney, who starred at PDS and are currently playing lacrosse and field hockey, respectively, at Harvard, has helped Jenkins be a better leader.

“I try to follow their lead and give constructive criticism and support,” said Jenkins, who is a tri-captain of the Panthers along with classmates Corinne Urisko and Cami McNeely.

“I feel like there is a lot of responsibility. This is a great group of girls. They are always willing to give their best effort. It is a really great position to be in this year.”

In one respect, though, Jenkins is taking a different path than her sisters, having committed to join the Princeton University field hockey program.

“I decided to go the other way,” said Jenkins, reflecting on her college choice. “It is relieving to be done with the whole process. I am really excited to work with the coach [Kristen Holmes-Winn] there.”

PDS head coach Arndt was excited to get her first triumph of her Panther tenure.

“To win anywhere is great, let alone your first time on your home turf with a great crowd,” said Arndt, a former Penn State All-American and U.S. National Team player, who coached Pennsbury High to a league title and the state tournament during her tenure there from 2006-09. “We won in a strong fashion. They played well, they did what we asked.”

Arndt is pleased with the strong play she is getting from her attacking trio of Jenkins, Quigley, and junior Emily Goldman.

“Between A.J., Emily and Emma, I think they can be lethal because they are very fast and they have stick skills,” said Arndt.

“If we counter attack, the three of them can almost be like a power play in hockey with odd man rushes. Emma and A.J. are doing really great things together. They have been trying to dribble it a little too much. They have really great skill and now they use that skill together.”

PDS has been getting a great effort from its battle-tested back line that features senior defenders Urisko, McNeely, and Zeeza Cole together with senior Sarah Trigg in goal.

“They have been doing really well,” said Arndt. “One thing that has been our focus is team defense as well as marking in the circle. I think if you can be a solid marker, the forwards are going to start getting frustrated. Corinne, Cami, and Zeeza have really stepped up. Their leadership as well as Sarah Trigg’s in the goal is going to be huge for our success. We are going to rely on them.”

While Arndt saw the 6-goal outburst against Stuart as a confidence builder, she was more impressed by the execution than the final numbers.

“Getting six is great but how they are doing it is even better for me,” asserted Arndt, whose team hosts Academy of New Church (Pa.) on September 21 before playing at South Hunterdon on September 24.

“They are listening to what I am saying and they are making the proper changes.”

Jenkins, for her part, believes that PDS has changed for the better under Arndt.

“We have definitely improved since last year,” said Jenkins. “I think if we keep doing the stuff we are doing now, we are going to move up every game. We are going to give it our all and give it our best effort.”

BRICK-FIRED: Princeton Day School boys’ soccer player Jack Brickner, left, goes up for a header against Peddie last Wednesday. Brickner scored a goal in the contest but it was not nearly enough as PDS fell 4-1 to the Falcons. The Panthers, who dropped to 0-4-1 with a 2-1 defeat to visiting Hopewell Valley last Friday, play at Lawrenceville on September 20 and at the Solebury School on September 22. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

After being held scoreless in its first three games this season, the Princeton Day School boys’ soccer team took a step forward in its contest against visiting Peddie last Wednesday.

PDS gave up an early goal to the Falcons but then responded with its first tally of 2012 as senior Jack Brickner headed home a pass from Marco Pinheiro with 6:26 left in the half.

But seconds away from going into halftime knotted at 1-1, misfortune struck PDS as one of its defenders blocked a Peddie shot with his hand, leading to his disqualification on a red card and a Falcon penalty shot.

Peddie cashed in on the chance to go up 2-1 at intermission and then pulled away in the second half against a shorthanded PDS side, tacking on two more tallies for a 4-1 victory.

PDS head coach Malcolm Murphy acknowledged that the sequence in the waning moments of the first half proved to be decisive.

“Unfortunately, that’s the way it goes, we call it game intelligence,” said Murphy.

“When we lost that possession around the area, that’s when the decision should have been to play the ball away and send it where they can’t do any damage. Instead we wanted to play with it in the middle and it changed the whole game.”

Murphy did like the way his team responded in the early stages of the second half.

“We kept putting the efforts in,” said Murphy of his young squad that includes five sophomores and four freshmen.

“I actually thought that in the first seven or eight minutes of the half that we had some good opportunities but then again you have to put them away. Once they started to spread the field, we started losing our legs.”

While Murphy saw some good signs, he acknowledged that his team needs to develop more resolve when faced with adversity.

“For young players, it is very difficult unless you see something instant,” said Murphy, whose team lost 2-1 to Hopewell Valley last Friday to fall to 0-4-1.

“The battle gets harder and deeper and that’s where we have to learn. Resilience is not in their vocabulary just yet.”

Despite the margin of defeat, Murphy saw some bright spots. “I thought the back four played well,” said Murphy, whose defensive unit includes Brickner, Zach Golden, Chris Chai, and Taran Auslander.

“They were playing a bit of a long ball; it is hard to defend against. We are struggling to find depth in the forwards to take the pressure off of us. We don’t seem to be able to find anybody individually or in a partnership who can stop the source.”

In Murphy’s view, the team will benefit from going back to the drawing board on the practice field.

“We have the opportunity to have more training sessions,” said Murphy, whose team plays at Lawrenceville on September 20 and at the Solebury School on September 22.

“We need to step back and go through those sessions with them and show them what we are looking for in units. We’ll get there. We have been there before and they will be there again as long as they show a willingness.”

ALL TIED UP: Princeton Day School girls’ soccer star Hannah Levy, left, battles a Germantown Academy (Pa.) player for possession in action last Friday in PDS’s season opener. Senior Levy scored a goal and had an assist as the teams played to a 2-2 overtime tie. The Panthers play at Shipley School (Pa.) on September 14 and at Hamilton High on September 15.
(Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

This past spring, Hannah Levy proved to be a superb finisher for the Princeton Day School girls’ lacrosse team, piling up 94 points on 69 goals and 25 assists.

Last Friday, Levy showed that her scoring knack translates to the soccer field as well. The senior star tallied a goal and added an assist as PDS battled Germantown Academy to a thrilling 2-2 overtime tie in its season opener.

In reflecting on her performance on the soccer pitch, Levy said she drew on her lacrosse skills.

“The sports are similar in a lot of ways,” said Levy. “They are both field sports; they both have a possession aspect and you see the field in the same way.”

Levy’s goal came with 25:15 left in the first half as she converted a feed from sophomore Alex Soltesz.

“That was a great cross,” recalled Levy, noting that her finish wasn’t a thing of beauty.

“I think the crosses were definitely open today. I kind of ran through it. I don’t even know where it hit off of me; it might have been my abs. It was a little too low for my head. I just went with it; it is a goal.”

Germantown tied the game late in the first half and then Levy hit a cross of her own with 13:18 left in regulation on a corner kick which led to a Kelsey Scarlett score.

“That was definitely good; we always focus on having it in the target zone,” said Levy.

“We did a kick called ‘the USA’ that is into the six; there are a lot of touches that can happen on that.”

The Panthers lost their lead less than 30 seconds later as Germantown scored on a run right after the kickoff.

PDS, though, didn’t lose its focus as the team held together and put plenty of pressure on the Patriots as the contest ended in a draw.

“We are lifting each other up on the field, we are out there for each other and playing as one unit,” said Levy. “I definitely think our possession work is much better than it was earlier. We are building off what we did in preseason and coming out really strong.”

“I don’t really know what position I am playing,” said Levy. “I got some minutes on attack. I really like that; it is new to me. I feel with Jane [Smukler] gone, I can pose a threat up there and push some people over and get some shots off. I am also very comfortable at center mid.”

PDS assistant coach Howie Powers is comfortable with Levy’s versatility. “We are asking Hannah to play a couple of things for us, mostly in the middle,” said Powers.

“We want her to use her strength on the ball. She goes after the ball and she shields so she plays a lot of withdrawn striker for us. Alex is there to run fast and hard while Hannah can strike the ball with her left or right foot. We are probably not going to get too many goals down low. We are going to get goals on crosses and shots outside and that’s where we got our goals today.”

Powers liked the way PDS didn’t get down even after Germantown knotted the game at 2-2.

“I think for the first game, to go 100 minutes was huge for us,” asserted Powers. “GA is always a very competitive team. They came right back in a minute and the nice thing was that we could have collapsed on that. I think we had more energy in the overtime; both teams could have won this game.”

In Powers’ view, junior goalie Rory Finnegan deserves a lot of credit for keeping PDS in the game.

“I think our most improved spot on the team is Rory Finnegan out of the goal,” maintained Powers.

“She made some phenomenal saves and her distribution was great. She really worked on her game over the summer. It’s coming out hard on the field and that is giving everybody else confidence.”

Showing its confidence, PDS is playing a more competitive slate this year, taking on teams like Germantown, Pennington, and the Shipley School (Pa.) as it aims to make a big postseason run.

“We upped our schedule, we changed three games where we may have been the favorite and we put in three games where we are the underdogs,” said Powers, whose team plays at Shipley School (Pa.) on September 14 and at Hamilton High on September 15.

“When we are playing the right size schools, it should make us much more competitive and that’s obviously where we are steering for this season. We play a very competitive regular season schedule which might hurt us in seeding and home games but it preps us a little more. It gets us a little more ready.”

Levy, for her part, believes the Panthers are ready to play some good soccer. “We need to look for the easy pass, sometimes we are trying to kick it down the field and we are not really a kick and run team,” said Levy.

“We have a lot of soccer players; we need to play to feet. We need to spread the field with outside midfielders on the end line calling for the ball and doing all the simple stuff.”

HEADS-UP PLAY: Princeton Day School girls’ soccer player Kirsten Kuzmicz, right, bangs heads with a foe in action last year. Sophomore Kuzmicz figures to spark the Panthers this fall with her physical play in the midfield. PDS kicks off its 2012 season by hosting Germantown Academy (Pa.) on September 7. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

Over the past four years, Janie Smukler provided the finishing touch for the Princeton Day School girls’ soccer team.

But now that four-year starter Smukler is at Emory University after completing her PDS career with a total of 73 goals, the Panthers will have to spread the wealth offensively this fall.

“The bottom line is offensive production,” said PDS head coach Pat Trombetta, who guided the team to a 10-7-1 record last fall.

“We will be OK on defense but we will miss Janie. We could count on her when we needed a big goal. If we get in synch as a unit, we could be very good. It will have to be scoring by committee.”

To bolster the PDS attack, Trombetta has reshuffled the deck, relying on senior co-captains Kelsey Scarlett and Ellen Bartolino together with talented sophomore Alexa Soltesz to be dangerous around the net.

“We are going to lean on Kelsey for scoring production, we moved her from outside middie up top,” said Trombetta, whose team starts the 2012 campaign by hosting Germantown Academy (Pa.)  on September 7.

“We have also moved Alex up top from outside. They both have the skills to make the transition. It is a gradual process, we are still getting them connected. Bartolino will also see some time at forward.”

One of the team’s top performers figures to be sophomore midfielder Kirsten Kuzmicz.

“Kirsten will patrol the midfield, she is real solid,” said Trombetta, whose midfield unit will also include senior Hannah Levy, junior Lily Razzaghi, together with sophomores Erin Hogan and Erin Murray, a transfer from Peddie.

“She is a physical player; I look for her to win 50/50 balls and give us some production from that area of the field.”

Trombetta is depending on sophomore Stef Soltesz to control things at the defensive end of the field.

“We have Stef at sweeper, she has unbelievable speed and good decision-making,” asserted Trombetta. “She knows when to break up a play and when to sit back and wait for help.”

Soltesz will be getting help along the back line from Levy along with junior Britt Murray and sophomores Kylie Kieffer and Steinert transfer Kelly Tarcza.

The team’s last line of defense, sophomore goalie Rory Finnegan, is showing progress.

“I think with a year under her belt, she should be better,” said Trombetta. “She has looked good in preseason. She worked hard, she went to a couple of camps. She is committed to getting better.”

A key to PDS getting better will be the growth of the team’s seven sophomores.

“The sophomore class is very strong,” said Trombetta. “I think with the addition of two transfers, it should be even stronger. It could make or break the team.”

In Trombetta’s view, a strong collective work ethic could also make a big difference for the Panthers this fall.

“Out of all the teams I have had, this is one of the hardest working groups,” said Trombetta.

“They are committed to doing their best. We have a very competitive schedule, we have added teams like Germantown, Pennington, and Shipley. That should help come tournament time.”

WILL DO: Princeton Day School boys’ soccer star Willy Cara goes after the ball in a preseason training session. PDS is depending on senior Cara to provide skill and savvy in the midfield this fall. PDS opens its 2012 season with a game at New Hope-Solebury (Pa.) on September 5. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

Saying goodbye to seven seniors from last year’s squad, the Princeton Day School boys’ soccer team is undergoing a youth movement by necessity.

Longtime PDS head coach Malcolm Murphy initially had some trepidation over the callow nature of his squad which includes five sophomores and four freshmen.

“I think everybody was a little concerned because we do have a lot of younger players now,” said Murphy, who guided his veteran club to a 9-7-2 record last fall and a spot in the state Prep B championship game.

“They are not huge or athletic-looking, they are wiry. The teams we are playing against in our conference have a lot of good players and they are going to be coming at us with a lot of juniors and seniors.”

But after a few weeks of preseason training, Murphy has been pleasantly surprised by the soccer acumen displayed so far his young players.

They are very skillful, very technically inclined and tactically inclined,” asserted Murphy, noting that the team showed a good possession game against Nottingham in its first scrimmage. “They know when to hold the ball, they know when to push forward.”

Sophomore midfielder Marco Pinheiro has emerged as one of PDS’s most skillful and imposing players.

“Marco is an extremely good player; he is a little different from the rest because he is tall and carries more weight,” said Murphy of Pinheiro, whose older brother, Rui, was one of the star seniors on the 2011 squad and is now playing for Tufts University.

“No one is going to try to come in and knock him down; he is a big guy. His vision in the scrimmage was tremendous. He anchored the midfield in front of the defense and did extremely well. He’s very good with the ball. He’s got good distribution skills; he can place a ball from 50, 60, or 70 yards with accuracy.”

The rest of the PDS midfield will include a pair of freshmen, Amir Melvin and Matthew Olosunde, along with senior Wily Cara.

Murphy is expecting Cara to be a catalyst in his final campaign with the Panthers.

“We play Willy wide to get him up and down the field,” said Murphy, whose team opens regular season play with a game at New Hope-Solebury (Pa.) on September 5.

“I expect him to be a leader and a true player in there working with these other guys and combining.”

PDS is looking for sophomore Oscar Vik and senior Absnel Esteban to develop into a potent combination at forward. “Oscar Vik stood out tremendously well against Nottingham,” said Murphy.

“We didn’t really need a big physical forward, we were able to play good quality balls in, and he played very well. Absnel Esteban works hard off the ball. We have to work a lot on finishing. We were impressive against Nottingham in finding the front players and getting up there but we were pretty erratic with our finishing.”

Murphy believes he has an impressive defensive unit with freshman Chris Chai and junior Zach Golden in the middle and seniors Taran Auslander and Jack Brickner on the wings.

“The two that have worked together the best were Zach Golden and Chris Chai,” said Murphy.

“Chris is young but he has done so well with his possession. They have impressed me with the way they play off each other. They have got a good understanding of how each other works so we decided to go with them down the middle and try the seniors, Taran and Jack, on the outside.”

At goalie, Murphy will be trying sophomore Christian Vik and junior Tom Hagan.

“We started with Christian Vik against Nottingham; he did extremely well,” said Murphy.

“He is a very aggressive keeper; he gets off his line. They had a couple  of tall players and he was out of his box, clearing and fisting everything. He took a lot of pressure off us. They didn’t have a lot of corners but he dealt with them extremely well. Tom Hagan is the other goalie; he will get his chance. I told them that if I put you in to start and you are doing well, I am going to give you the opportunity to finish the 80 minutes.”

In Murphy’s view, his youthful squad is ready to seize opportunity collectively this fall. “Right at this moment, it can go from strength to strength, week after week,” asserted Murphy.

“I have seen such an improvement already. Psychologically, nothing seems to faze them so far when it comes to keeping the ball. The younger guys are very intelligent in the game. They understand group and team play.”

A-GAME: Princeton Day School field hockey star Andrea ­Jenkins controls the ball at a recent practice. The Panthers are relying on senior forward/midfielder Jenkins to provide good two-way play all over the field this fall. PDS, which has a new head coach in Tracey Arndt, opens the 2012 season with a game at Germantown Academy (Pa.) on September 7.
(Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

Having played on the U.S. National Team from 1999-2004, Tracey Arndt is introducing some sophisticated concepts as she takes the helm of the Princeton Day School field hockey team.

Arndt, a former All-American and Big Ten Player of the Year at Penn State, has found a receptive group in her PDS players.

“From the first day, we knew they were hard workers,” said Arndt. “They are transferring skills from practice into the scrimmages, that is very exciting for me to see.”

It hasn’t taken Arndt long to realize that she has an exciting player in senior forward/midfielder Andrea Jenkins.

“Andrea is great; she is one of our captains,” said Arndt, whose team gets the 2012 season underway with a game at Germantown Academy (Pa.) on September 7.

“She has got the skills, she has got the attitude. She knows what to do and is a force to be reckoned with. She is starting to understand that it can be better to give it to somebody and then get it back. You can be in a better position that way. She is a double threat; she is so fast and has both attack and defensive skills.”

In addition to Jenkins, the Panthers boast some other good attacking players in junior Emma Quigley, junior Emily Goldman, and junior Maysa Amer.

“Emma, Emily, and Andrea have played together before and it shows,”added Arndt, the replacement for MC Heller, who guided PDS to a 7-8-1 record in 2011 before leaving the program.

“Maysa got in the right spot at the right time and got a goal for us in a scrimmage against WW/P-S. She knows that she still has to work on her skills.”

PDS is getting some good work in the midfield from juniors Mary Travers and Sarah Brennan.

“Brennan and Travers are holding down the center of the midfield,” said Arndt.

“Mary sees the field well and is a good distributor. Sarah has tenacity; she is around every ball.”

PDS also features a group of younger players who are providing some tenacious play in the midfield.

“We have sophomores on the outside with Dana Poltorak, Morgan Foster, and Bian Maloney,” said Arndt, who has other sophomores Niki van Manen and Sophie Jensen seeing time in the midfield. “They are holding their own; they are all playing well.”

The Panther defense features a quartet of battle-tested seniors in tri-captain Corinne Urisko, Zeeza Cole, tri-captain Cami McNeely, and Sarah Trigg.

“We have Corinne in the middle, Zeeza on the left, Cami on the right, and Sarah in goal,” said Arndt.

“They are committed girls with a high work ethic. I wouldn’t want to try to get through them.”

Arndt has been particularly impressed with how tough Trigg plays in the cage.

“Trigg has been doing a great job; she has the focus that is unique to goalies,” said Arndt, noting that sophomore Katie Alden will be serving as the team’s back-up goalie.

“She can be as sweet as pie but when she puts on that goalie mask, watch out. She has the skills and she is communicating where she needs the defense to be.”

In reflecting on the keys to success this fall, Arndt points to team defense and opportunistic finishing.

“I think one of the keys on defense is to start from the forwards and play all over the field; you need to be patient but aggressive,” said Arndt.

“When we get the ball on attack, it has to be all systems go. We need to sharpen our finishing, whether it be finishing a shot, pass, or tackle.”

Drawing on her field hockey background, Arndt is looking for a high level of commitment from her players.

“I have talked to them about my expectations for them as people first and then as hockey players,” said Arndt.

“I told them I want to see professionalism and a sense of urgency. I want them to take it game by game and half by half. If you focus on the small things, the big stuff will take care of itself.”

TEACHING MOMENT: New Princeton Day School field hockey head coach Tracey Arndt makes a point during a practice session last week. Arndt, a former Penn State field hockey All-American and a five-year member of the U.S. National team, is replacing MC Heller at the helm of the program. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

As a three-sport star at Pennsbury High in the mid-1990s, Tracey Arndt, nee Larson, figured that soccer would ultimately be her path to college athletics.

“As I went through high school, I thought I was going to play soccer in college if I had a chance,” said Arndt. “That was where there was a little more feedback.”

But after getting some positive feedback from legendary Penn State field hockey head coach Char Morett, Arndt changed her focus.

“I was fortunate to go to a camp that Char Morett was coaching,” said Arndt, who ran track at Pennsbury in addition to playing field hockey and soccer.

“My high school team went to the camp for three years so she got to see some development in me. My skill level was raw but I did have fitness and I had some game sense.”

Arndt ended up getting recruited to the Penn State field hockey program and never looked back. She played in three Big 10 title games for the Nittany Lions and earned a slew of honors including All-American, Academic All-American, Big 10 Freshman of the Year (1996), and Big 10 Player of the Year (1999). She went on to play five years for the U.S. National Team, earning a silver medal at the 2003 Pan American Games.

After her career with the U.S. national program, Arndt got into coaching, working as an assistant at Columbia University and Moorestown High before serving as head coach at Pennsbury from 2006-2009.

Taking a hiatus from high school coaching as she gave birth to son Jack (3) and daughter Camryn (1), Arndt is getting back into the fray, taking over as the new head coach of the Princeton Day School field hockey team.

Upon meeting with the PDS players this past spring, it didn’t take Arndt long to feel a bond with the squad.

“They seemed like they had focused goals,” said Arndt, 34, who teaches middle school in the Pennsbury system and has juggled athletic, academic, and family responsibilities with her husband Jeff, a former football head coach and current middle school teacher.

“The older group and the younger group knew what they wanted to do. They wanted to have a successful year, whatever that meant. They were taking the right steps, going to camps, doing the leagues, and doing what they needed to do. They were ready for someone to come in and get them going.”

For Arndt, going around the world with the U.S. team gave her a broader perspective on team and the game.

“Some of my best friends are my teammates from the national team,” said Arndt.

“I got to travel the world for free. I don’t know what my life would have been like without doing that. It has really taken me to a world I would not have known otherwise. The games were amazing but the experience, the traveling, the friendships we have made; I think that is one of the best things about the sport.”

Going to Penn State turned out to be one of the best moves Arndt has made in her life.

“I really have to credit Char and the other coaches at Penn Sate for turning me into a hockey player,” said Arndt, noting that Morett and assistant Jill Reeve had played for the national team.

“It was basically we have one more spot, you won’t get a lot of money but you can be on the team basically and then I just took it as OK, here is my opportunity to play for a really great school and a really great program. If I don’t get to play my freshman year at least I will have learned a lot. In the  meantime, one of the top recruited players, a freshman got really hurt and another senior got very hurt and down the line here I am playing in the first game against the national champions North Carolina and I was very freaked out. Opportunities came my way; I knew I wasn’t going to be the best player on the team but if I could be the hardest worker I could go as far as I could.”

Arndt’s first coaching opportunity resulted from her Penn State ties as she joined the Columbia staff in 2004, working under college teammate Katie Beach.

“I have an education background, that is where my degree was,” said Arndt, noting that both of her parents are teachers and coaches.

“I always wanted to give back in some way, whether it was at the youth level or at the high school level. Honestly at the time I was going though college I didn’t think that college coaching was going to be what I wanted to do. I got an opportunity after the 2004 Olympics to coach at Columbia with one of my great friends and teammates. That was a really great experience. I have the utmost respect for college coaches; it is a huge time commitment but it is super worth it. I loved every second of it.”

After a year at Columbia, Arndt moved to the high school ranks, taking a job as an assistant at Moorestown High. She then took the helm at her alma mater, leading Pennsbury to a state tournament berth in her first season in 2006 and a league title in 2009.

With her husband Jeff also involved in coaching and teaching, Arndt took a back seat from the high school game, focusing on her young children. She kept in field hockey by coaching the Mystx club program in Feasterville, Pa.

When Arndt learned that PDS was looking for a new head coach to replace MC Heller, she was ready to take on the challenge.

“We heard about this opportunity and Jeff said let’s go for it,” said Arndt. “It is definitely a team effort when you have a family. I am very thankful that this opportunity came up where I can get back into coaching and I am very thankful that we were able to compromise and work this out.”

When it comes to her coaching approach, Arndt isn’t one to compromise. “I have high expectations for them as people first,” asserted Arndt.

“I also try to be as positive as I can, meaning I will give them energy through positive feedback. We will certainly focus on things we need to work on. We try to pull out the best and fix what we need to fix.”

Arndt brings a clear focus to each practice. “I need to be high energy and I think it needs to be efficient,” added Arndt.

“If we are only here for two and a half hours, you are bringing your water bottles with you. I need to be very prepared; I need to have a Plan A, a Plan B, and a Plan C. I think if they see that I am prepared and I am always thinking about what the next thing is, then they will see that I am doing whatever I can to get this team better. Hopefully they will jump in and do whatever they can to get themselves better.”

A week into preseason, Arndt likes the way the PDS players have jumped into things.

“I have been impressed from what I have seen,” said Arndt. “They have been great; I haven’t heard one complaint or even a begrudging voice. I ask them to jump, they ask how high so that has been really exciting to see. They are diving right into the things that I am asking them to do; I am really thrilled about that.”

ENDING WITH A BANG: Clint O’Brien takes a swing in action this spring in his senior season with the Gettysburg College baseball team. The former Princeton Day School star athlete saved his best for last in his college career as he hit .382 in 2012 with 50-hits in 131 at-bats and one homer and 23 RBIs. Over his first three years with the program, O’Brien had posted a .250 batting average with a total of 38 hits in 152 at-bats. Ending his career in style, O’Brien banged a homer in his final college at-bat.
(Photo by David Sinclair, Courtesy of Gettysburg College’s Office of Athletic Communications)

Some 52 years ago, Ted Williams ended his Hall of Fame career with the Boston Red Sox in style, clubbing a homer in his last major league at-bat.

This spring, former Princeton Day School star athlete Clint O’Brien took a page out of Williams’s book, culminating his Gettysburg College baseball career with a home run in his final plate appearance.

For O’Brien, that finale will be a moment he’ll never forget. “That felt great; that is how I wanted to end it,” said O’Brien, reflecting on the blast which came on May 1 in a loss to York (Pa.) College.

“That was incredible; I couldn’t believe it. Ask any of my teammates, I was trying to do that. Outside of winning a championship, that was the best way to end things.”

O’Brien’s career-ending heroics were made even sweeter considering that things didn’t always go well for him during his time at Gettysburg.

After starring in football, ice hockey, and baseball at PDS, O’Brien struggled in freshman year. He was a back-up receiver in football and went hitless in one plate appearance for the baseball team. A year later, he played his final season of football and did progress in baseball, hitting .283 with 13 hits in 46 at-bats.

In reflecting on his first two seasons at Gettysburg, O’Brien acknowledged that it was tough juggling football and baseball.

“I was still playing football as a freshman and didn’t have fall ball for baseball,” recalled O’Brien.

“In the football preseason, I went from quarterback to wide receiver and I went without throwing for a long time. After winter ball, I developed tendinitis in my shoulder and elbow and that shut me down for most of my freshman baseball season. Sophomore year was my last season of football. In baseball, I was the utility guy that year. I played left field, right field, center field, third base, and first base. I got back into the swing of things. My arm was healthy and I could throw.”

Focusing solely on baseball by his junior year, O’Brien was able to contribute more as he hit .229, going 24-for-105 with a homer and 16 RBIs.

“I had fall ball that year,” said O’Brien. “As a team, we were not as successful as I would have hoped. We had three juniors and five seniors on that team so it was a really young team. By the end of my junior year, we showed a lot of progress.”

As O’Brien looked ahead to this spring, he was primed to take a key role in building on that progress as a team captain and the lone senior starter.

“It felt good to be captain, that alone made me more ready to step into a leadership position,” said O’Brien.

“Every game, I was the only senior on the field, so I had to be the guy who set the example. I had that experience in the past so it was nothing new for me. My goal was to hit around .400 the whole year.”

O’Brien’s senior year nearly turned into a frustrating experience as he suffered a hand injury early in the season. The 6’3, 205-pound O’Brien, though, didn’t let the pain keep him from producing a banner season as he hit .382, going 50-for-131 with one homer and 23 RBIs.

“In our second-to-last day in Florida, I put a tag on a runner and hurt my left thumb,” said O’Brien, who was the team’s starting first baseman.

“I missed only one game and was the designated hitter in a few games. My swing was OK; it affected my power. Squeezing the glove was the toughest thing.”

The Bullets got into the swing of things this spring as they went 25-13 to post the fourth-highest win total in program history, a marked improvement on the 2011 season which saw them go 12-23.

“It was a great way to go out,” asserted O’Brien, reflecting on the season.

“We had really good guys and a great team chemistry. It was easy for me to rediscover my passion for the game.”

Igniting that passion helped O’Brien regain his status as a star performer. “Not being able to show up and contribute was something that was completely foreign to me,” said O’Brien, who is currently working in media sales for an internet start-up in New York City. “I wanted to prove to myself that I could still do it.”

PAIN CONTROL: Carly O’Brien heads up the field this past spring in her freshman season with the Dickinson College women’s lacrosse team. O’Brien, a former three-sport standout at Princeton Day School, fought through nagging hamstring problems to tally 25 points on 13 goals and 12 assists for the Red Devils in 2012 and rank third on the squad in scoring.
(Photo by James Rasp, Courtesy of Dickinson Sports Information)

As Carly O’Brien went through middle school, she was on track to be a softball star.

The athletic O’Brien starred in the District 12 softball all-star tournament and played travel ball.

But O’Brien’s sports destiny changed in the span of one afternoon. “A friend brought me to her lacrosse practice, “ said O’Brien.

“I really liked it and after the spring of eight grade, I stopped playing travel softball and got into lacrosse.”

It didn’t take long for O’Brien to establish herself as a star in her newfound passion. She made the girls’ varsity lax team at Princeton Day School in 2008 as a ninth grader and emerged as a go-to scoring threat by her sophomore season.

As a junior, she tallied 63 goals and 13 assists to help the Panthers go 14-4 and win the program’s first-ever Mercer County Tournament title. O’Brien kept firing away as a senior, earning first-team All-Prep A honors and ending her PDS career with more than 150 goals.

Having progressed so rapidly in lacrosse, O’Brien was fired up to keep playing the game after high school.

“I realized that lacrosse was my favorite sport; I couldn’t see myself not playing sports in college,” said O’Brien, who also starred in soccer and ice hockey for the Panthers.

Initially, O’Brien saw herself playing at the highest level of the college game.

“At first, I wanted to go to a Division I program,” said O’Brien. “I went to camps, the intensity level was a lot higher. I was looking at Lafayette.”

But O’Brien ended up falling in love with Division III Dickinson College and didn’t need to look any further.

“It was not until the end of junior year that Dickinson got into the picture,” said O’Brien, whose older brothers, Dan and Clint, were star athletes at PDS and played college sports at the D-III level.

“The coach sent me a letter and I met her in the summer before my senior year. I loved her coaching style. I did an overnight visit. I loved the team; I felt really comfortable. I liked that it was a small school; it reminded me of PDS.”

Similar to her PDS career, O’Brien made an impact right away for the Red Devils this spring, tallying 25 points on 13 goals and 12 assists to rank third on the squad in scoring.

O’Brien’s numbers are even more impressive considering that she was battling through injury throughout her freshman year.

“In my second-to-last game in high school, I hurt my hamstring,” said O’Brien, a 5’8 attacker.

“I couldn’t play all fall because I was rehabbing my hamstring. Sitting on the sidelines was frustrating but I got to know my teammates and see how things are done.”

Once the spring rolled around, O’Brien was able to get some things done on the field as she returned to action.

“After we came back from winter break, I was able to play again,” said O’Brien.

“The first game was quite nerve-wracking. It is a lot higher level than high school, the game is a lot faster in college.”

The injury bug, though, ended up slowing O’Brien throughout the spring.

“I originally hurt my right hamstring but then I irritated the left one through favoring the right,” said O’Brien.

“I did physical therapy before and after practice. I did exercises to build up my leg around the hamstring. It was very frustrating. I had to take a couple of games off. I played about half the time; I worked out an arrangement with the coach for when I would come out.”

All things considered, O’Brien feels she got off to a good start in her Dickinson career.

“I tried to contribute as much as I could,” said O’Brien, reflecting on a season which saw the Red Devils go 7-8 overall and 4-4 in Centennial Conference play. “We have a young team. The freshman class were the stars.”

Currently focusing on getting up to full speed, O’Brien is looking to assume a starring role in her sophomore year.

“I am doing physical therapy all summer,” said O’Brien. “I expect to be 100 percent by the fall. The future looks exciting. We didn’t make the playoffs this year and we want to make it next year.”

MIDDLE OF THE ACTION: Hannah Epstein, left, eludes two foes in action this spring in her senior season on the Middlebury College women’s lacrosse team. Epstein, a former basketball and lacrosse standout for the Princeton Day School, ended her Middlebury career with a bang as she helped the Panthers advance to the NCAA Division III Final 4.
(Photo Courtesy of Middlebury College Athletic Communications)

It was a message that Hannah Epstein and her teammates on the Middlebury College women’s lacrosse team saw everyday this spring.

“We sat at the captains’ house before the season and we all wrote down individual and team goals,” recalled Epstein, a former Princeton Day School basketball and lacrosse standout.

“We all had NESCAC (New England Small College Athletic Conference) and NCAA champions on our lists. We all really wanted that. We had a piece of paper up in our locker room with the goals.”

While Middlebury just missed achieving those goals, taking second in the NESCAC tourney and falling in the NCAA Division III semis, Epstein won’t soon forget her senior campaign.

“It was heartbreaking to lose in the Final 4,” said Epstein. “But our coach said it is not so sad that we didn’t win a national championship, it is sad that it was over and we wouldn’t have another day together. It was such an incredible group. The chemistry this year was unbelievable; we were truly best friends on and off the field. I really enjoyed going to practice. We were all on the same page, there were no cliques whatsoever.”

For Epstein, her experience this spring culminated a lacrosse journey that would have seemed unlikely when she entered PDS seeing basketball as her main sport. The sharpshooting Epstein was a four-year starter at guard for the Panther girls’ hoops program but eventually got the message that her sporting future lay in lacrosse.

“My mom was recording one of my basketball games to send to a coach and Jill Thomas (PDS lacrosse coach) said what are you doing,” recalled Epstein.

“My mom said she was making a tape for college coaches and Jill said she’s not playing basketball in college, she is playing lacrosse. That stuck with me.”

As a result, Epstein became more serious about her lacrosse. “I had been playing both basketball and lacrosse in the summer,” said Epstein. “In the summer after my junior year, I joined a club lacrosse team and played in summer tournaments.”

When it came to joining a college lax program, Epstein found a good fit in Middlebury.

“It was really a no-brainer,” said Epstein. “From the moment I drove on the campus at Middlebury, I found it aesthetically pleasing. I fell in love with the school. I met with the coach [Missy Foote] and she was fantastic. It is great academically and it is one of the top Division III programs.”

In reflecting on her freshman year, Epstein said she had to adjust to the Middlebury program’s rigorous fitness standards.

“It was the conditioning,” said Epstein. “We have a conditioning test in the fall. There is also one at the start of the spring season in February. We have other tests along the way. There is distance running. There is a timed two-mile run and a track component.”

After riding the bench as a back-up midfielder during her freshman campaign, Epstein’s college career got on track when she switched to defense the next spring.

“I was not playing a huge amount freshman year,” said Epstein. “I made a solid switch to defense in my sophomore year. It was a natural progression for me. I loved playing defense at this level. I could use my sprint speed and then take a break. I also could use the basketball footwork when you get low and slide. The big difference from high school is you have to make contact with the player and learn to do that effectively.”

In her junior season, Epstein and the Panthers started to develop the spirit that sparked their success this spring.

“We have outstanding players every year; we just became a more cohesive unit that year,” asserted Epstein reflecting on a 2011 campaign which saw Middlebury go 11-6 and advance to the second round of the NCAA tourney.

Coming into this spring, there was a lot of optimism around the squad. “We had so much talent; we had big expectations coming into the season,” said Epstein.

“The two captains were also on the field hockey team and they went to the national championship game in the fall. They were saying we really could do it. It was very obvious from the first game that we had a special team.”

Epstein’s love of basketball, though, resulted in her missing some game action once the spring rolled around.

“I played intramural basketball all four years and I got a very bad high ankle sprain in the first week of January,” said Epstein.

“I was out for two months, I was doing rehab for the first half of the season. I stepped on the field for our second game of the season against Skidmore. I played 10 minutes to see how it felt but it wasn’t right. I didn’t come back until the Colby game.”

Epstein made up for lost time, starting nine games down the stretch and getting credit for 20 ground balls and eight caused turnovers. Her defensive work helped Middlebury defeat Tufts and Amherst in the NESCAC tournament before falling 11-10 to eventual national champion Trinity in the conference title game.

Rebounding from that loss, the Panthers went on a superb NCAA run which saw them top Norwich, Montclair State, and 2011 national champion Gettysburg on the way to the national semis.

For Epstein, the 15-9 triumph against Gettysburg in the regional final left an indelible memory.

“The win over Gettysburg was one of the greatest games,” said Epstein. “We were excited to play Gettysburg and it was a really good game. It was closer than the score indicated; they pulled their goalie near the end and we got some possessions and empty net goals.”

Earning the Final 4 spot marked the culmination of a long process for Epstein.

“It was so special,” said Epstein. “It sounds cheesy but it was a dream come true. This is what you have been working for since fourth grade when you watch the NCAAs and see teams win.”

Although the Panthers fell 15-7 to Salisbury University in the national semis, the sting of the defeat pales in comparison to the bonds shared by Epstein and her teammates this spring.

“There are some teams where the mindset is more aligned than others,” said Epstein. “It means that much more to have it happen as a senior.”

Being part of such a group effort left Epstein with lessons that she will carry into life after college.

“Sports teaches you to work for a goal greater than your own interest,” added Epstein, a film major who aspires to someday be a cinematographer.

“The coach worked us as hard as possible. I did workouts I never thought I could handle. It helps you in other areas of life like being able to stay up late and work on a paper.”

WATER WORKS: Robin Linzmayer, second from left, pulls hard for the Mercer Junior Rowing Club (MJRC) women’s lightweight 8 in action this spring. Earlier this month, Linzmayer, a rising junior at Princeton Day School, helped the boat take eighth at the USRowing Youth National Championships on Melton Hill Lake in Oak Ridge, Tenn. (Photo Courtesy of MJRC)

Hockey has been Robin Linzmayer’s passion since grade school but getting hurt on the ice two winters ago helped her find another sporting love.

“I injured the meniscus in my knee in December of my freshman year,” said Linzmayer, a rising junior at Princeton Day School who stars on the Panther girls’ ice hockey team and also plays for the Princeton Tiger Lilies travel hockey club.

“I played for six weeks and then got an MRI. I had to sit out and have surgery. The recovery time was three months. My dad rowed in college and he told me it would be good exercise. I talked to my doctor and since rowing was easier on the knee and low impact, he said I could try it.”

While Linzmayer is comfortable gliding up ice, she found hitting the water a bit unsettling as she took up rowing with the Mercer Junior Rowing Club (MJRC) last spring.

“It was a little scary at first,” said Linzmayer. “Those boats rock more in the water than I thought.”

It wasn’t long before Linzmayer began rocking in her new sport. “The novice coach helped me out a lot,” said Linzmayer. “He put me in some boats with girls who had rowed before. It was really good.”

Earlier this month, Linzmayer showed how far she has come in her second sport, competing for the MJRC women’s lightweight 8 at the USRowing Youth National Championships on Melton Hill Lake in Oak Ridge, Tenn.

Linzmayer’s trip to Tennessee marked her second appearance in a national competition in three months as she had skated with the Tiger Lilies’ 19U team at the USA Hockey Tier II Nationals in Dallas this past March.

For Linzmayer, getting the opportunity to make the rowing nationals resulted from some eleventh-hour heroics from the lightweight 8.

“We were put together three or four days before the regionals,” said Linzmayer, who rowed from the boat’s five seat. “It worked immediately; we were second at the regionals.”

After earning its shot at the nationals, the boat worked hard to improve. “We rowed every morning from 5:30 to 6:45 and then came back to the boathouse after school for two hours,” said Linzmayer. “We were feeling light and fast.”

Coming into the national regatta, the boat was primed to go fast. “I think as a boat we wanted to see how we compared to some of the faster boats in the country,” said Linzmayer. “We wanted to pull as hard as we could; that is all you can do.”

While the boat fell just short of making ‘A’ final, it never stopped working hard, taking second in the ‘B’ final to place eight overall nationally.

“We pulled as hard as we could in the semis and ended fourth, five seconds behind,” said Linzmayer.

“In the final, we wanted to get off the line hard. We gave it our all. At the end, no one was disappointed. Our coach said how proud she was of us; I couldn’t be prouder of my teammates.”

Getting exposed to the high level of competition in Tennessee has given Linzmayer motivation to hone her rowing skills.

“I had such a great time rowing at the nationals,” said Linzmayer. “It was fun just watching some of the faster boats. It was so inspiring to row against those boats. You get to see how fast you are and what more you can do to be faster.”

Reflecting on her appearance at the hockey nationals, Linzmayer gained a similar inspiration.

“It is always fun to play against players from all over the country and see the different styles of hockey,” said Linzmayer, who helped the Tiger Lilies advance to the national quarterfinals. “You see room for improvement and what you need to do to get better.”

In Linzmayer’s view, taking up crew has made her a better hockey player.

“It has helped me much more than I expected,” asserted Linzmayer, who will be taking part in several hockey camps this summer.

“I never realized how intense rowing is. From a physical standpoint, the lifting and cardio stuff helped. Mentally, it was great. You learn to push yourself as hard as you can over that seven minutes of the race. That carries over into hockey. You go out for a two-minute shift and play as hard as you can. You learn to push through limits.”

THE REAL MCCOY: Princeton Day School senior baseball star Sean McCoy gets ready to hit in a game this spring. The leadership of senior tri-captain McCoy helped the Panthers go 12-9 this season, a marked improvement on the 4-14 record the program posted in 2011. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

Coming into the spring, Ray O’Brien thought his Princeton Day School baseball team had the pieces in place to have a big season.

“We were so shorthanded and inexperienced last year,” said PDS head coach O’Brien.

“I thought we had a good combination this year. We had some good seniors and a really good freshman class.”

O’Brien’s analysis proved correct as the Panthers went 12-9, a marked improvement on the 4-14 record the program posted in 2011. A major feather in the cap for PDS was its success against Prep A foes Peddie, Blair, Hun, and Lawrenceville.

“I think it was the first sweep of the Prep A teams ever in one season for us,” said O’Brien.

“We beat Hun and Lawrenceville by 10 runs; it was nice to beat them like that.”

It was nice for the team to end the season with a 1-0 victory over New Hope-Solebury.

“It was our senior day and Jacob Eisenberg had a big last game,” said O’Brien.

“He pitched a three-hit shutout and hit a grounder to knock in the winning run. It was a good group of seniors; it was nice to see them go out like that after the way we struggled last spring.”

Senior tri-captain Sean McCoy’s upbeat attitude gave the group a lift. “McCoy gave us leadership beyond his numbers,” said O’Brien of the Pomona College-bound McCoy who hit .273 this spring with 16 runs scored.

“He was a vocal leader. Some guys are quiet and he speaks up. A lot of people talk about being a team player but he lives it. He is always asking me ‘coach where do you need me to play?’ He is the most self-less and team-oriented player I have coached.”

Williams College-bound senior shortstop and tri-captain Beau Horan raised the level of his play this spring. “Beau put things together this year,” said Horan. “He had a good year at the plate and in the field. He was fifth in the team in hitting (.355 batting average) and tied for the team lead in extra-base hits (13).”

In addition, Matt Cook and Eisenberg produced big years in their final PDS campaigns.

“Cook and Eisenberg gave us good pitching. Eisenberg pitched the most innings and won four games,” added O’Brien.

“Cook was versatile. He played in the outfield. He hit well (.302 batting average) and he won three games on the mound. He pitched very well in a 3-2 win over Peddie.”

Freshman first baseman J.P. Radvany played surprisingly well, emerging as the team’s top batting threat.

“Radvany had a really good season, especially for a freshman,” asserted O’Brien, noting that Radvany was a first-team All-Prep B pick with Horan, Rob Colton, and B.J. Dudeck getting named as second-team performers and Eisenberg and Jake Alu earning Honorable Mention.

“He led the team in hits (30), tied for the lead in extra-base hits (13), and led in batting average (.484), RBIs (32), and slugging percentage (.806). He was really consistent all season. After the first game, I moved him to fourth in the order and left him there. He is a big kid with power. Having him and B.J. Dudeck (.379 batting average, 16 RBIs) coming back gives us two big boppers.”

The other freshmen, Alu, Cole McManimon, and Ross Colton, also made an immediate impact.

“Alu (.358 batting average) had a great season, playing outfield and third,” said O’Brien.

“McManimon pitched really well; he had a tough loss to Notre Dame and beat Hamilton West. Ross had a good year; he played well at second. We added five good players with the freshmen and [junior transfer] Rob Colton (.454 batting average).”

The team’s coaching staff also came together, setting a positive tone. “The coaches were a big help,” said O’Brien.

“Kevin Schneider was the pitching coach and he did a really good job. He really settled the kids down, working with pitchers and calling games. Matt Russo worked with the hitters. Brian Dudeck also helped out. It was an enjoyable season all around.”

O’Brien is looking forward to more enjoyable moments in the future. “I think we are getting back on track,” said O’Brien. “I am really excited about next year; we have a lot of kids playing this summer and in the fall.”

TOP GUN: Princeton Day School girls’ lacrosse star Hannah Levy heads to goal in action this spring. Junior Levy piled up a team-high 94 points this season on 69 goals and 25 assists to help PDS overcome a 0-5 start and finish with a 9-9 record. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

When the Princeton Day School girls’ lacrosse team played at the Hun School in its season finale, it may have been a Mercer County Tournament consolation game but there was still a lot on the line.

PDS came into the contest looking to raise its season record to the .500 mark and seeking to prove it was for real after edging Hun in a regular season contest.

Utilizing a balanced attack, PDS made its point, pulling out an 18-17 win to end a roller-coaster spring on a high note.

For PDS head coach Jill Thomas, the season-ending triumph was meaningful on several levels.

“It evened our record at 9-9,” said Thomas. “I think a lot of people thought our win there earlier in the season was a fluke so to come back and do it again was big. We can use that win as a positive as we go into the offseason.”

The Panthers got a special highlight in the contest as the team’s lone senior, Shannon Towle, scored the game-winning goal in the waning moments.

“For Shannon to get the winning goal in her last game in the PDS uniform was big,” said Thomas.

“You should have seen the look on her face; that goal will be in her thoughts for a long time.”

As Thomas looks back on the spring, she acknowledges that it was a bumpy ride.

“When you are young, it is fun and frustrating,” said Thomas. “At times everyone had some frustration this year but is not where you start, it is where you finish. We were 0-5 on April 4 and then we won our next five games. We played with the big girls in Prep A and took our lumps. All the kids got better, we have everyone coming back but one player; they learned what it means to wear the PDS uniform.”

Junior star Hannah Levy brought a lot of honor to the PDS uniform this
season, scoring 94 points on 69 goals and 25 assists.

“Hannah had a pretty big year; she could have been frustrated with the team but she went out every day and played really hard,” said Thomas of Levy who was named as a first-team All-Prep A performer this spring.

“She is a very talented athlete; she is tough and has a style all of her own. She accounted for almost 100 goals; we depended on her to do so many things. She played low attack; she took the draws. She ran the offense; she ran the defense.”

The Panthers have plenty of returning talent in such players as juniors Corinne Urisko and Ellen Bartolino, freshmen Kirsten Kuzmicz and Morgan Foster, and sophomore Lucy Linville.

“Urisko had 35 goals; she was our unsung hero,” asserted Thomas. “Kuzmicz played nearly every minute of the season and did all the little things. She can play; she is the real deal. Foster came on at the end. Linville had moments of brilliance; she had 15 goals and five assists. I am excited to see what she is going to do over the next two years. Ellen Bartolino was someone who figured it out; she can be a force on the field.”

Junior goalie Sarah Trigg proved she can be a force on the field as she took over the starting role in the wake of the graduation of four-year starter Jess Frieder.

“Trigg made big improvements; she is very tough,” added Thomas of Trigg, who is also a star goalie in field hockey.

“She had big shoes to fill. It is tough going from stopping the ball with your feet in field hockey to using your hands. She improved day in, day out.”

In Thomas’ view, the Panthers should keep improving as long as they keep their noses to the grindstone.

“When you are young, you hope for the best,” said Thomas, noting that there are some strong players coming up the ranks from the school’s JV and middle school programs.

“The main lesson is to never, ever give up and to work hard everyday. They need to put in time with the stick and ball. Summer leagues and camps are nice but the key is spending time with the stick and ball and developing stick skills with both hands.”

UNLIKELY RUN: Princeton Day School boys’ lacrosse star Garret Jensen runs up the field in a game earlier this spring. Attackman Jensen helped seventh-seeded PDS make an unlikely run in the Mercer County Tournament as the Panthers knocked off second-seeded Notre Dame and sixth-seeded Princeton High on the way to the title contest last Saturday against No. 1 Hopewell Valley. Jensen scored a goal in the championship game but it wasn’t enough as the Panthers fell 6-2 to the Bulldogs to end the season at 10-7. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

For Tyler Olsson and his fellow seniors on the Princeton Day School boys’ lacrosse team, spending some quality time together in South Carolina a few months ago helped strengthen their resolve to go out with a bang this spring.

“At Hilton Head, where we had our spring training, we were all in the same house together,” said star midfielder Olsson, whose classmates on the team include Garret Jensen, Mike Davila, Zack Higgins, Lyndy Lapera, and Walker Ward.

“We spent hours on end together. We are a pretty closely knit group.”

Last Saturday in the Mercer County Tournament championship game, Olsson and the seniors came agonizingly close to ending their careers with a title, falling just short in a 6-2 loss to powerful Hopewell Valley.

The seventh-seeded Panthers battled toe-to-toe with No. 1 HoVal, trailing by just 3-2 entering the fourth quarter. PDS, though, couldn’t find the back of the net over the last 12 minutes while the Bulldogs scored three goals.

“Their defense pressured out and kind of shut us down,” said Olsson. “We weren’t taking the right shots, we kept shooting high right into the stick.”

Having upset second-seeded Notre Dame and No. 6 Princeton High on the way to the title game, PDS had high hopes of pulling off another upset even when they were behind 2-1 at halftime against HoVal.

“That’s what we have been all year,” said Olsson, referring to squad’s underdog mentality.

“We took out Notre Dame; we took out PHS. We are a second half team. We have come back in the second half of multiple games. That is just how we do it; I thought we had this one.”

For Olsson, who also stars for PDS’s ice hockey team, playing in the MCT final in lacrosse was reminiscent of the success he has experienced on the ice.

“I have won MCT in hockey and the Preps in hockey but have never done anything in lacrosse for this program,” said Olsson.

“This is just huge, making it to the finals of MCTs. Hopefully we will bring the program back up to what it used to be.”

PDS head coach Rob Tuckman saw the trip to the MCT final as a huge step forward.

“It is all icing at this point; nobody expects a seven seed to be playing the final,” said Tuckman, who got goals from Cody Triolo and Jensen as the Panthers ended the spring with a 10-7 record.

“We played against the No. 1 seed and they are the No. 1 seed for a reason, they are now 18-2. Part of it is that they have an incredible defense and their defense played very well against us today.”

The Panthers had their chances, including a critical sequence early in the fourth quarter when they missed a good chance to draw within one goal only to see HoVal race down the field and score.

“We knocked on the door there, had it been on goal there and gone in then it is 4-3 instead of 5-2 in that transition,” said Tuckman.

“You could go back to lots of different plays. Overall it was a great season. I am really proud of the team.”

Tuckman is proud of what his seniors have given to the team. “It goes without saying; you look at a kid like Garret who is banged up beyond belief and still puts it out everyday,” said Tuckman, reflecting on the program’s Class of 2012.

“We have Tyler Olsson, who doesn’t stop fighting, and Michael Davila, who has been a staple for us in terms of leadership. Losing Zack in the prep semifinals was really tough. He helped our young defense figure out how to play the role they need to play. They are leaving a legacy for sure.”

The young players coming back are primed to add to that legacy. “I am excited for what is to come; we are definitely building this program,” asserted Tuckman.

“As we said to them yesterday in practice, everything we have done is to build experiences and build this program so when we get to big moments like this we are ready for them.”

In Olsson’s view, there should be plenty of big moments ahead for the Panthers.

“Since my freshman year, there has been a huge change,” said Olsson. “We have grown and brought in some new talent. We are just starting to rebuild the program and what happened in hockey can happen in lacrosse.”