ON POINT: Princeton Day School girls’ lacrosse player Madison Mundenar controls the ball in a game earlier this season. Last Monday, sophomore star Mundenar had three goals and two assists to help PDS defeat Pennington 18-15. The Panthers, now 6-3, play at Blair Academy on April 20 and at Hopewell Valley on April 25. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

Madison Mundenar is looking to be a more versatile performer on attack this spring in her sophomore campaign for the Princeton Day School girls’ lacrosse team.

Last year, the speedy Mundenar proved she could race past opposing defenses and put the ball in the back of the net, scoring 40 goals as PDS won the state Prep B title.

This season, Mundenar is determined to help spread the wealth on offense.

“I have been working on my feeds a lot, not just one-on-one goals,” said Mundenar.

“I have been moving from the circle to attack a little bit so I get to work on both parts of my game. I am
definitely more of a playmaker, threading the needle on the feeds and working on my own shot.”

Last Wednesday against visiting Hill School (Pa.), Mundenar proved to be a key playmaker for the Panthers, scoring three goals and making three assists as PDS pulled away to a 13-9 win.

“Our attack is very strong; I have confidence in anyone on the field to be able to go to goal,” said Mundenar. “That is unique to our team; it is really special.”

It took a while for the PDS attack to get going against Hill as the game was knotted at 5-5 with 6:45 left in the first half.

“We were a little slow getting out of the gate,” said Mundenar. “Our focus in the game was ground balls and to just be aggressive, beating them all over the field. Their goalie was really good; we really had to work on placing our shots.”

The Panthers ended the half with two unanswered goals and never looked back from there.

“I think if we finish strong that gives us confidence to do better in the next half so I think we really picked it up,” added Mundenar. “We felt confident and we just kept going to goal.”

Mundenar has developed a strong connection on the field with classmate Kyra Hall and junior Morgan Mills.

“We have a good chemistry there, Kyra and I have been playing together for a while together,” said Mundenar, who had three goals and two assists to help PDS edge Pennington 18-15 last Monday in a rematch of last year’s Prep B title game. “Morgan and I usually find each other in transitions.”

PDS head coach Jill Thomas likes the chemistry and skill she is seeing in her team’s attack unit.

“It is great, it is fun to watch,” said Thomas. “They recognize each other out there. It is all pretty even in the scoring. They are really unselfish and we make that extra pass when we are supposed to make that extra pass. That is the way the game should be played.”

While the Panthers have been piling up goals, Thomas is looking for her team to be even sharper.

“One of our goals is to limit unforced turnovers and we started pretty high up; we were at 13 a game,” said Thomas.

“Nobody forced them, we made the errors so the goal has been to get it down to five a half and then four and now we are at three a half. We have got to take care of the ball and we have to come to play and understand that it just takes a little jar to get that thing out.”

With a defense spearheaded by senior captains Tess Gecha and Rowan Schomburg, the Panthers have been causing turnovers at that end of the field.

“They are talking, they have got everybody believing back there,” added Thomas.

“They are great leaders. They are tough and they are fast. They are working with a freshman and another junior back there and two freshmen goalies.”

Having started the season by losing two games to D.C.-area powers on its spring trip to Florida, PDS has found a groove upon its return to New Jersey.

“I am happy that we went to Florida, we had a great week and we played really tough teams and we held our own,” said Thomas, whose team moved to 6-3 with the win over Pennington and plays at Blair Academy on April 20 and at Hopewell Valley on April 25.

“We came back and we put what we worked on in Florida to test up here. It is one step at a time, that is the thing, don’t get ahead of ourselves. It is keep working, keep getting a little better every time we play.”

Mundenar, for her part, believes the Panthers are ready for the tests ahead.

“It has been a good season so far, I am really excited,” said Mundenar. “I think we are getting better every game. We started off with two losses in Florida, they were tougher games and tougher teams. I think we came back to New Jersey ready to go and ready to play. I think we have a good chance for the Prep B again and I think we can go pretty far in MCTs this year.”