SAVING GRACE: Princeton High field hockey goalie Grace Cooke prepares to make a save last week in Mercer County Tournament action. Junior star Cooke made five saves in a losing cause as second-seeded PHS fell 3-0 to third-seeded Princeton Day School in the MCT semifinals, suffering its first defeat of the season. The Little Tigers, now 14-1, will start play in the Central Jersey Group 4 sectional this week where they are seeded first and slated to host eighth-seeded Monroe in a quarterfinal contest on October 26. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

By Bill Alden

Rolling to a 14-0 record as it advanced to the Mercer County Tournament semis, the Princeton High field hockey team had enjoyed a smooth ride this fall.

But as second-seeded PHS faced third-seeded Princeton Day School last Thursday evening in the semis at Lawrence High, it ran into some turbulence, falling behind 1-0 to its crosstown rival five minutes into the contest.

“We didn’t start out as intense as we needed,” said PHS head coach Heather Serverson.

While the Little Tigers displayed intensity in the second half, making a number of counterattacks, they failed to break through as PDS pulled away to a 3-0 victory.

“We just couldn’t seem to find the net, we weren’t connecting well,” lamented Serverson, reflecting on the setback. “We were just giving the ball back to the other team a lot. There were a lot of turnovers. At this point of the season, it is the team that makes the fewest mistakes who wins, and we made more.”

PHS kept pressing forward to the final whistle despite being down by three goals.

“I am very proud of that,” said Serverson. “That is something we have worked on; being resilient, tough, and hanging in there.”

With the Little Tigers starting play in the Central Jersey Group 4 sectional this week where they are seeded first, Serverson.

“It showed us some of our weak spots,” said Serverson, whose team hosts eighth-seeded Monroe in a sectional quarterfinal contest on October 26.

“They are a quality team; playing a team like that is definitely going to help us improve and make us better. We learned things all over the field from them that we are going to take moving forward. We will not make those same mistakes again.”