Competing Hard in Loss to Powerful Pennington, PDS Girls’ Soccer Steels Itself for Postseason
STEPPING IN: Princeton Day School girls’ soccer player Cailyn Jones sends the ball up the field in recent action. Freshman defender Jones played well in a losing cause as PDS fell 4-0 at Pennington last Saturday. The Panthers, who defeated Lenape 2-1 last Monday to improve to 10-3-1, start play in the Mercer County Tournament this week where they are seeded sixth and host 11th-seeded Hightstown in an opening round contest on October 18. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)
By Bill Alden
Playing at powerhouse Pennington this past Saturday evening, the Princeton Day School girls’ soccer team was at a disadvantage before the game even started as it was missing two key players.
With starters Brooke Smukler and Anna Ellwood sidelined for the rest of the fall due to illness and injury, PDS couldn’t afford any lapses if it wanted to upend the Red Raiders.
But yielding a goal just four minutes into the contest, the Panthers dug an early hole.
“It is tough, we didn’t have all players executing the way you want them to execute,” said PDS head coach Pat Trombetta. “Something like that is going to happen when you are playing a good team.”
Although the Panthers gave up two more goals in the half and trailed 3-0 at intermission, Trombetta liked the effort he was getting from his players.
“We spoke about it; we said you are playing one of the best teams in the state and you are staying with them and you are competing with them,” recalled Trombetta.
“There were a couple of breakdowns. They have a lot of speed up top. We changed the defensive assignments a little bit in the second half and that worked to our advantage a little bit.”
In the second half, PDS had more possession and stymied the Pennington attack before yielding a late goal to fall by a final score of 4-0.
“We are walking away from here knowing that we can compete with the best,” said Trombetta. “I thought we matched their effort and energy level throughout the game. We never rolled over in this game; we played 80 minutes of soccer.”
In assessing the defeat, Trombetta credited junior Tulsi Pari and freshman Cailyn Jones with producing stellar performances in a losing cause.
“There were two girls who stepped up above and beyond,” said Trombetta. “Tulsi did a great job defensively and then the freshman center back Cailyn had her best game of the year. This was the first time that she played a full 80 minutes. With the injuries, we needed her to step up and Cailyn did a fantastic job for us.”
In Trombetta’s view, his young squad gained valuable experience from the the clash with Pennington as it looks forward to playing in the Mercer County Tournament and the state Prep B tourney.
“Our schedule was designed to be ready for the tournaments,” said Trombetta, whose team edged Lenape 2-1 last Monday to improve to 10-3-1.
“We played Pingry (a 2-1 win on October 5) and then Springside Chestnut Hill (Pa.) (a 4-3 loss on October 9) and then Pennington. Those are games that you want to play as you are approaching the tournament. Pennington is a team that is probably going to go deep in the tournament. ”
With PDS starting action in the MCT this week, where it is seeded sixth and hosting 11th-seeded Hightstown in an opening round contest on October 18, the Panthers are primed for a deep postseason run.
“We know that Hightstown is a good team, they are having a good season,” said Trombetta.
“They have some good players on their team. We will be prepared for them. We are looking forward to the tournaments.”