PERFECT STORM: Princeton High field hockey player Isabel Kinney (No. 19) shoots the ball in a game earlier this season. Last Friday, senior forward and co-captain Kinney scored a goal to help second-seeded PHS defeat 15th-seeded Hun 5-0 in the opening round of the Mercer County Tournament. A day later, Kinney scored two goals to help the Little Tigers defeat Nottingham 8-1 in a regular season contest and improve to 13-0. PHS is slated to host seventh-seeded Allentown on October 16 in the MCT quarterfinals with the victor advancing to the semis on October 18. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

By Bill Alden

Isabel Kinney was holding an ice bag to the left side of her face in the waning moments of the contest last Friday as the second-seeded Princeton High field hockey team hosted No. 15 Hun in the first round of the Mercer County Tournament.

PHS senior forward Kinney, however, was able to smile through the pain as the Little Tigers put the finishing touches on a 5-0 win over the Raiders.

“We like to call ourselves a second half team; we start from the beginning with intensity, but when we start scoring, we really keep going,” said Kinney, who took a shoulder to her left eye in the second half to prompt the icing of her face.

“Once we get a couple, then I think the whole team works better together and we get into it a lot. We get our flow and once we get that flow, we are really able to get rolling.”

It took took a while for PHS to get into the flow against Hun as it led 1-0 with just over 10 minutes remaining in regulation.

“We opened it up to the team at halftime and it is, hey, what are you seeing, what do you think we need to work on?” said Kinney. “Usually what we say is overall intensity and just going into every ball.”

Kinney displayed her intensity in the circle, whacking in a goal with 10:36 left in the second half to give PHS a 2-0 lead; opening the floodgates as the Little Tigers added three more tallies down the stretch of the contest and improved to 12-0.

“That is my favorite type of goal when I stop it right in front of the goalie, turn around, and smash it,” said a smiling Kinney, who will look to score more goals as PHS is slated to host seventh-seeded Allentown on October 16 in the MCT quarterfinals with the victor advancing to the semis on October 18.

When she began her PHS career, Kinney didn’t see herself emerging as an offensive force for the Little Tigers

“When I look back on my freshman year, I can’t even imagine me as the same person,” said Kinney.

“It is crazy. I would say for me it is improving on passing and working with everyone else. I am getting assists this season.”

The undefeated start by the Little Tigers, though, was not beyond Kinney’s imagination.

“I can’t say I am surprised because, on and off the field, we are all friends,” said Kinney, one of the team’s co-captains.

“We eat lunch together on game days; we all hang out together. I would say the only reason we are 12-0 is that we play as a team and that we are friends. Individually, if we were all on different teams, we would not be 12-0 on those teams.”

PHS head coach Heather Serverson credits her senior class with sparking the team’s success.

“There is a tight group of nine seniors and they really get along well,” said Serverson, whose team topped Nottingham 8-1 last Saturday in a regular season game as it improved to 13-0.

“They are great leaders for the younger players. They are good mentors. They set a great tone right from the start of the season and then everything else just kind of fell into place from there.”

Serverson acknowledged that it took a while for things to fall into place in the win over Hun.

“We just needed to start playing more aggressively; we were sitting back and playing more reactive in the beginning,” said Serverson.

“They tend to feed off of each other’s energy once we get a goal in and the team starts having that confidence, things just to flow. Our challenge is to start off the game that way.”

Junior standout Eleanor Wilkinson provided energy and production, tallying two goals and an assist against the Raiders.

“Ellie is a feisty player and she is very, very coachable,” said Serverson, who also got goals from Megan Mavoides and Grace Rebak.

“She is a hard worker and makes adjustments in the games, which is something as a coach that I love. She is very aware and mindful in the moment in the game, that is why she is playing so well.”

Having fallen 5-0 to top-seeded and perennial county champion Lawrenceville in the 2017 MCT final, Serverson is hoping PHS gets a championship rematch with the Big Red, who have win six of last seven county tourneys.

“If we do end up in a match against Lawrenceville, we are excited to play them this year,” said Serverson.

Kinney, for her part, is excited to be having such a special final campaign.

“It is a great way to go out,” said Kinney. “We are 12-0 now and we have gotten so far. We are really looking forward to the rest of the MCT. We are looking as seniors to go as far as we can.”

—Bill Alden