GETTING IT DONE: Princeton Day School boys’ soccer player Donovan Davis, right, goes after the ball against Hun last Thursday. Senior midfielder Davis scored a goal to help PDS rally for a 2-1 win over the Raiders. Last Monday, Davis tallied a goal and an assist as second-seeded PDS rolled to a 9-0 win over seventh-seeded Morristown-Beard in the state Prep B quarterfinals. PDS, now 9-5, will host a Prep B semifinal contest on October 26. In addition, the Panthers will start play in the Mercer County Tournament, where they are seeded ninth and slated to play at eighth-seeded WW/P-North in an opening round game on October 19. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

Donovan Davis and his teammates on the Princeton Day School boys’ soccer squad knew there was a lot on the line when they hosted the Hun School last Thursday in the annual clash between the crosstown rivals.

“The seedings for the county tournament come out tomorrow so this is our last game,” said senior midfielder Davis. “This was a big one today that we all wanted.”

Things didn’t begin the way PDS wanted in the early going as Hun’s Elijah Smarr got behind the Panther defense and scored to give the Raiders a 1-0 lead with 31:24 remaining in the first half.

“We started slow; it was a questionable call,” said Davis. “The intensity wasn’t there.”

Davis, who was recently moved to midfield, helped PDS pick up the intensity, scoring a goal to knot the game at 1-1 with 5:55 left until halftime.

“I was moved to attacking mid so I was just trying to find little gaps here and there,” said Davis. “I played the cross and it just found my head.”

Just 31 seconds later, the Panthers struck again as Jake Harris sliced the ball over Hun goalie Chris Pontrella to give PDS the lead. The Panthers made that goal stand up, prevailing by the 2-1 margin.

“I thought we deserved to win,” said Davis. “It wasn’t the prettiest of games and we didn’t play our best by any means, but we outplayed them. Our energy was there in the second half.”

For Davis, providing energy in the midfield has come naturally. “I like it. I always play center back for my academy team, and here I usually play defensive mid, just knocking the ball around,” said Davis, who had a goal and an assist as second-seeded PDS rolled to a 9-0 win over seventh-seeded Morristown-Beard in the state Prep B quarterfinals last Monday to improve to 9-5.

“Right before the Lawrenceville game, they moved me to attacking mid and we have won three out of the next four.”

PDS head coach Ollie Hilliker believes that Davis has sparked the Panthers by moving up the field.

“Donovan is good. He started the season as a center back and we adjusted that and moved him up the field,” said Hilliker.

“He offers something good going forward. He has got good ability and sees the game well.”

As PDS prepared to face Hun, Hilliker was expecting a good battle.

“We know what it is going to be going into the game; we know it is going to be physical and it is going to be a bit scrappy,” said Hilliker.

“It is quite a rivalry between the two teams; it is good. I like that.”

In assessing his team’s performance against Hun, Hilliker liked the way his raised its game in the second half.

“I thought in the second half, we played some better quality with better passing and better movement,” said Hilliker.

Senior midfielder and Bucknell-bound C.J. Uche provided some quality play for the Panthers.

“C.J. is C.J., he gives us a lot of ability,” said Hilliker. “His ability is second to none and I think he stepped up a lot in the second half.”

Hilliker is looking for his squad to step up in postseason play and it did just that last Monday when the Panthers, who are seeded third in the state Prep B tourney, rolled to a 9-0 win over seventh-seeded Morristown-Beard in the state Prep B quarterfinals.

“We are in a good place.  We have had some real tough games recently; we beat Pingry (2-1 on October 5) which was a big win for us and against Pennington, we lost 4-3 (on October 2),” said Hilliker, whose team will also start play in the Mercer County Tournament this week where they are seeded ninth and are slated to play at eighth-seeded WW/P-North in an opening round contest on October 19. “We are playing well, we are peaking at the right time of the season.

In the view of Davis, PDS has the right stuff to make a big tournament run.

“Pennington is one of the best in the country and we were toe to toe with them,” said Davis, noting that the Red Raiders scored a goal in the waning seconds of that contest to pull out the win. “If everyone’s head is right and our energy is there, we can play with anyone.”