The Senior Day ceremony for the Princeton Day School girls’ soccer team took place last Thursday before it hosted perennial power Pennington and it didn’t last long as Izzy Meyercord was the only member of the Class of 2016 on the squad.

But for defender and co-captain Meyercord, it was a long, hard road to that day, having suffered broken legs that sidelined her as a sophomore and junior.

That injury history had Meyercord concerned as she entered the 2015 campaign.

“I think the past two years having broken my leg has gotten into my head a little bit,” said the 6’0 Meyercord, who also stars for the PDS girls’ hoops team. “I have been really worried, having the same injury but in different legs.”

With PDS bringing an 11-0-1 record into the clash against Pennington, Meyercord likes the heady play the Panthers have been getting from their core of youthful performers.

“We have a lot of young new players come in and they give us everything they have,” added Meyercord. “We are giving them a lot of minutes and they are giving us the results so I am really proud of the young players.”

While the Panthers went on to suffer their first defeat of the fall as they dropped a hard-fought 1-0 nail-biter to the Red Raiders in overtime, Meyercord was proud of the team’s performance.

“With our coaching staff and with all the returning players we just wanted to come out here and give them a match and a hard battle,” said Meyercord.

“We haven’t beaten them in a while and we just wanted to give the hardest game we could give them. I think this is what we did.”

The PDS defense has been extremely hard to score on this fall, posting eight straight shutouts at one point.

“I have really been relying on my backs, Maddie Coyne, Rebecca Kuzmicz,  and Emily Simons,” said Meyercord, reflecting on the team’s defensive unit which also features star sophomore goalie Grace Barbara.

“They have really been helping me through this whole process. We have had a lot of leadership from Maddie Coyne in the center. Moving Becca back into the middle was a big help, she is great in the air and she has been a big force for us.”

With the Panthers seeded first in both the Mercer County Tournament and the state Prep B tourney, Meyercord believes the defeat to Pennington could end up being a blessing in disguise.

“I think having a game like this going into the postseason is really helpful to see what the teams we are going to be playing are like,” said Meyercord

“I think this is just more motivation for us. We are going to wipe this out, it just rolls right off. It makes us hungrier going into the tournaments.”

PDS head coach Pat Trombetta liked the hunger his players displayed in battling the Red Raiders.

“I thought we matched their intensity and aggressiveness on the field, “ said Trombetta.

“We had quality opportunities on a few of the crosses. It is a game that is tough to lose for either team because it was a battle. I am proud of the effort these girls gave today.”

In Trombetta’s view, the loss could actually portend a big postseason run. “I told them if you look at 2013, it is the same road map where we came into this game late in the season undefeated and came up short and rolled from there,” said Trombetta, whose team won the Mercer County Tournament and placed second in the state Prep B tourney that fall.

“It is a gauge for us to see if we can play with the top teams in the area and we passed that test today.”

Having Meyercord play at full speed has been a huge plus for the Panthers.

“The defense was great and Izzy has been coming on; you can see her improvement as the season goes on,” asserted Trombetta, whose back line was sharp Monday as PDS defeated South Hunterdon 3-0 in improving to 12-1-1.

“You can see her getting up on the attack, she is playing with a lot more confidence this year. She is healthy. If you look at the leadership, all the girls respect her as a leader. They all talk about her positive attitude, energy, and enthusiasm. It is just catching with the rest of the team.”

The Panthers will need that energy and enthusiasm as it begins postseason action by hosting 16th-seeded Nottingham in its MCT opener on October 21 and then hosting eighth-seeded Trinity Hall the next day in the first round of the Prep B tourney.

“We got four games scheduled for next week, it is going to be a challenging week because we are playing back-to-back with the county and the Preps,” said Trombetta.

“It is always a difficult time of the year. We are starting to get other girls involved, we are going to the bench a little bit more. Pennington is a game that we went after. We don’t know the last time we have beaten them but just taking them into overtime was a step up in the right direction.”

Meyercord, for her part, believes that PDS can take both titles. “I think our biggest goal is just to have both trophies, we want to be the first PDS girls’ soccer team in history to have both trophies,” said Meyercord.

“This is the year we think we can do it. I think we have had a lot of team chemistry this year. I think that a lot of older players have taken younger players under their wing, really helped them, and shown them what to do.”