David Cedeno and his teammates on the Princeton Day School boys’ soccer team were on a mission as they hosted Golda Och in the opening round of the state Prep B tournament last Thursday.

“We were definitely excited because it is tournament time and all the momentum was coming into this game,” said senior midfielder Cedeno.

“What we want to do is to go out and completely out-work, out-score, out-possess the competition, and be the better team in every situation.”

The second-seeded Panthers came out and dominated seventh-seeded Golda Och, controlling possession and generating a number of scoring opportunities but had nothing to show for it as the game remained scoreless for the first 31 minutes of action.

“We had a couple of unlucky chances,” said Cedeno. “Some were going a little wide, the keeper had a couple of good saves. We were winning every thing but it wasn’t reflected on the scoreboard.”

Cedeno got the Panthers on the board, blasting in a goal with 8:42 left in the half and Diego Garcia added another just 29 seconds later.

“We just wanted to score,” said Cedeno. “I am glad I got the first one and then everybody else started putting them in. We got the first couple and then the ball starting rolling in.”

With a 2-0 lead at halftime, the Panthers didn’t want to let up. “We just had a good team talk with the coach and with our captains and it was let’s go out there and completely win this game because at 2-0 any team can come back,” said Cedeno.

The Panthers produced a complete effort, pulling away to an 8-0 win and advancing to the semifinals where they will host sixth-seeded Morristown Beard on October 26 with the winner heading to the title game on October 30.

Cedeno added a goal and three assists in the second half onslaught as he found his form after struggling with knee problems last fall.

“Coming off an injury from last year, it was a bit difficult warming up and getting in,” said Cedeno, who scored a goal as sixth-seeded PDS fell on penalty kicks to 11th-seeded Notre Dame last Thursday in the first round of the Mercer County Tournament after the teams tied at 2-2 through regulation and overtime.

“I feel like I am 100 percent; I am ready to take on anyone and as a team we are ready to take on any team we play.”

The Panthers have shown an ability to alter their style of play depending on the circumstances.

“It is understanding different competition, different teams, and how they play,” said Cedeno. “Then it is using their strengths and weaknesses against them.”

PDS head coach Ollie Hilliker liked the strong effort he got from his players in the second half against Golda Och.

“Once we broke the ice, the flow went,” said Hilliker.  “We had a lot of players who got on the score sheet, which is always good. We kept our shape right and we moved the ball well. We finished our chances, which we didn’t do early on in the first half.”

Hilliker credited Cedeno with getting things moving for PDS. “Dave has been brilliant, he had a little knock the last couple of weeks and he had not played too much the last 10 days,” said Hilliker.

“We have rested him a lot this last week, he hasn’t played too much. This was really his first game back playing, it was nice for him to get some confidence and show some quality.”

As PDS, now 10-5-3 after tying Robbinsville 3-3 last Monday in an MCT consolation contest, heads into the Prep B semis, Hilliker believes that facing such high quality teams as Pennington, Peddie, and South Kent (Conn.) over the course of the season will pay off at crunch time.

“We have had some ups and down, we have had some good challenges,” said Hilliker.

“We have competed against top teams and maybe we haven’t got the results but we have competed. I think that is important for us to know that we can give anyone a game when it comes to it, anything can happen.”

Cedeno, for his part, is hoping good things will happen in his final week with the program.

“I think as a senior, I am trying to motivate the younger kids, trying to be out there and be a positive figure for our team,” said Cedeno. “This is our last playoff run so we want something.”