DRAWN OUT: Princeton High boys’ soccer player Drew Beamer controls the ball in the Mercer County Tournament championship game last Thursday against Pennington. Junior midfielder Beamer had an assist to help second-seeded PHS rally for a 1-1 draw with the top-seeded Red Raiders as the teams shared the title. Last Monday, Beamer had a goal and an assist in a losing cause as second-seeded PHS fell to 15th-seeded Manalapan on penalty kicks in the opening round of the Central Jersey Group 4 tourney after the teams played to a 2-2 draw through regulation and two overtimes. The loss left the Little Tigers with a final record of 17-1-2. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

Playing in his first Mercer County Tournament boys’ soccer championship game last Thursday evening, Drew Beamer was focused on keeping a cool head as Princeton High faced Pennington.

“Going into it, I really just tried to stay calm,” said PHS junior star Beamer. “I know what our team’s strengths and weaknesses were; we worked to the strengths and away from the weaknesses. We had a really good week of preparation in practice. We knew the game strategy.”

That calmness was severely tested as high-powered and undefeated top-seeded Pennington jumped out to a 1-0 lead three minutes into the game and seemed poised about to run second-seeded PHS off the field at The College of New Jersey with a downpour pelting the players.

“We huddled up real quick and talked it out, we were like boys it is nothing we haven’t come back from before. It was like HoVal in the first game of our season, when we came back from 1-0. We just kept working at it and our play got better and better throughout the game.”

Although the Red Raiders dominated possession for much of the half, the Little Tigers held the fort and went into halftime still down 1-0.

“We just got into the huddle and said who has the will to win more and we decided that we wanted it more,” said Beamer.

Showing that will to win, Beamer helped PHS knot the game at 1-1, assisting on a goal by Dean Patel with 12:04 remaining in regulation.

“I saw Sammy throwing it in and I tried to flick it on to goal and then Dean intercepted it and scored,” recalled Beamer. “That is fine too, I don’t mind, kudos to him.”

Beamer left the game briefly in the second half with a bloody nose but rushed back in after being treated to help the PHS defense keep its shape.

“We just tried to keep it more compact back there,” said Beamer.

“We have been doing really well as a defense the whole time. We tried to keep five guys back there and we tried to work as a unit more.”

PHS carried the play through the remainder of the second half and the teams went into overtime. In the extra session, the Little Tigers generated some good chances off of set pieces but neither side scored through two 10-minute overtime periods and the heavyweight battle ended up a 1-1 tie with the teams sharing the title.

“They are a really good team, they fought the whole time,” said Beamer.

“In overtime, we just tried to do the best that we could so that is all we could ask for.”

Over the season, Beamer has done his best to hold things together for the Little Tigers.

“The coaches want me to play like a lower center mid and kind of quarterback the situation and tell guys where they need to be,” said Beamer.

PHS head coach Wayne Sutcliffe credited Beamer with being where PHS needed all over the field against Pennington.

“He gave everything,” said Sutcliffe. “What can you say, he won so many battles. He settled in as it went along, he was finding feet, he was absolutely fantastic.”

After weathering the Pennington storm in the first half, PHS changed things up strategically.

“We made a couple of tactical adjustments, with just one striker up high and three center mids to try to get a hold of the ball a little more, to pressure the ball a little more and to just settle in a little bit more and find feet,” said Sutcliffe.

“I think once the rain stopped and the game settled in, the players started to get a little more fatigued and we had a little more time on the ball. We found our comfort zone.”

Although the Little Tigers couldn’t get the ball into the back of the net again, Sutcliffe was proud to see his program earn a seventh MCT crown even if it had to settle for a tie.

“That was the story, it was two halves, it could have gone either way,” said Sutcliffe, whose team’s storybook season ended in disappointment last Monday as second-seeded PHS fell to 15th-seeded Manalapan on penalty kicks in the opening round of the Central Jersey Group 4 tourney after the teams played to a 2-2 draw through regulation and two overtimes.

“I think more than anything, this is the way it should be. The top two teams, the one and the two, should meet in the final. I thought we persevered and we gained a little bit of a psychological edge. You want to win it outright, we have won it outright six times. I view this as every bit as valuable as the other six that we have won.”

Beamer, for his part, has enjoyed the ride this fall with his teammates as the Little Tigers posted a record of 17-1-2.

“I think the team’s chemistry is really good,” said Beamer. “You see the boys cheering on the bus. We just all mesh really well together.”