ON TARGET: Princeton High girls’ soccer player Devon Lis controls the ball in recent action. Junior midfielder Lis has five goals in her last three games, sparking PHS to a 2-0 win over Lawrence on September 27, a 3-2 win over Nottingham two days later and 1-0 triumph over Hightstown last Saturday. The Little Tigers, now 5-4, play at Hamilton on October 5, host WW/P-N on October 7, and play at Ewing on October 11. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

Even though the Princeton High girls’ soccer team started the season with three straight losses, getting outscored 11-1 in the process, Devon Lis was not discouraged.

“We played very hard competition and it was really important for us to not get down on ourselves,” said PHS junior midfielder Lis.

“We were able to take something from those games. We saw the competition level that we wanted to be at.”

Hosting Lawrence High last week, Lis displayed some high-level play, scoring two goals in the first seven minutes of the contest as PHS jumped out to a 2-0 lead.

“On the first one, someone laid it off to me and I was able to place it away; I wanted to try and tuck it in,” said Lis.

“The second one came off of a cross from the right outside; someone was able to lay it off to me again and I was able to place it in the corner.”

The Little Tigers kept the pressure on for the rest of the first half, keeping Lawrence on its heels.

“We were possessing the ball well; we had some good opportunities,” said Lis.

“We were able to put them away and I think we wanted to continue that for the rest of the game.”

While PHS didn’t cash in on any more opportunities, the goals by Lis provided the margin of victory in a 2-0 triumph for the Little Tigers.

Lis acknowledged that PHS sputtered a bit after its fast start. “I think we came out, we wanted to do well again; we wanted to put them away but we weren’t able to connect well,” said Lis.

“We weren’t able to take that fire from the first 15 minutes and keep it going for the rest of the game. We still want to improve on that team mentality to get the team playing as a whole throughout the game.”

With two years of varsity experience under her belt, Lis is looking to provide leadership as well as production this fall.

“I am in the middle, I want to communicate with the younger players,” said Lis, who scored two goals in a 3-2 over Nottingham and then scored the lone goal in a 1-0 win over Hightstown last Saturday

“I have been in that position and my sister (former PHS star Taylor ’16) was able to help me. I think Zoe (Tesone) is a great leader as well as Colette (Marciano) in the middle so I think us three in the middle are able to talk to other people and really step up the game.”

PHS head coach Val Rodriguez likes the way Lis has stepped up her game.

“Devon’s maturity on the ball has grown tremendously from freshman year until now, her touches are very, very good,” said Rodriguez of Lis, who has tallied a team-high seven goals.

“She can win a ball and get her head up immediately and distribute. She has composure when she is finishing. She has a great voice because she keeps it calm. She keeps it positive; it really helps to build the morale out there.”

The positive start against Lawrence was a confidence builder for the Little Tigers.

“We started playing possession,” said Rodriguez. “I think that is a huge piece of our game, just keeping it, building it. When we have numbers up in the box and when we attack with composure, it is all good.”

Rodriguez acknowledged that the attack stalled a bit as the game went on.

“Once we start to send the vertical balls and try to attack and create quick counter attacks, we tend to get countered against,” noted Rodriguez. “We need to build the play and attack with numbers.”

The PHS defense, though, was able to thwart the Lawrence counters as senior defender Zoe Tesone and freshman goalie Shaylah Marciano came up big.

“Defensively, Zoe had a great game, Shaylah did a great job holding it up in the back at goalie,” said Rodriguez.

“Thank goodness we have a strong back line, they are doing a good job staying organized for us. Lawrence was definitely pressing, I give them a lot of credit.”

Bouncing back from the tough start, PHS is gaining momentum. “It is inconsistent right now, of course we are thrilled with the win,” said Rodriguez, whose team plays at Hamilton on October 5, hosts WW/P-N on October 7, and plays at Ewing on October 11.

“We are starting to believe in ourselves, we are starting to understand that every player is meant to have the ball at her feet, that they are meant to get involved in the attack and they are meant to team defend. It is getting the confidence piece and believing in our system and ourselves.”

Lis, for her part, believes that the Little Tigers can be dangerous down the stretch.

“The focus is to definitely get some wins and get some team energy going as we go into the tournaments,” said Lis. “We want to compete and we want to be on our best game.”