FINAL PUSH: Princeton Day School field hockey Sasha Sindhwani dribbles the ball upfield in recent action. Last Wednesday, senior star Sindhwani scored in double overtime to help second-seeded PDS edge third-seeded Morristown Beard in the state Prep B semifinals. On Sunday, Sindhwani and the Panthers couldn’t repeat those heroics as they fell 2-0 at top-seeded Montclair Kimberly Academy in the Prep B title game. The defeat left the Panthers with a final record of 11-5. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

By Bill Alden

After suffering a heartbreaking 1-0 defeat to Lawrenceville in the Mercer County Tournament championship game on October 20, the Princeton Day School field hockey team was seconds away from another agonizing playoff setback as it hosted Morristown-Beard in the state Prep B semis last Wednesday.

The second-seeded Panthers trailed the third-seeded Crimson in the waning moments of regulation before Panther junior star Caroline Haggerty scored with 11 seconds left to force overtime. PDS prevailed 2-1 in double overtime as senior standout Sasha Sindhwani notched the game winner.

“The Lawrenceville game took a lot out of the girls; it was really tough to turn around, refocus and regroup,” said PDS head coach Heather Farlow.

“We have played better this season than how we played against Mo-Beard, but to keep going and to keep fighting and get that goal with 11 seconds left and to win in double OT, we told them tournaments come down to grit and being able to get in there and make things happen.”

In the final last Sunday at top-seeded Montclair Kimberley Academy. PDS was down 1-0 heading into the second half and looked to make things happen down the stretch of the contest.

“We talked about moving the ball around them, moving it to the outside, get it to the right and just create our opportunities by going around them and not playing their style of hockey,” said Farlow. “We felt like we did come out pretty strong in the second half and we had opportunities.”

Although the Panthers ended up falling 2-0 to finish the fall with an 11-5 record, Farlow likes what her squad accomplished in 2018.

“We had some goals to get back to the Mercer County finals and the Prep finals and we achieved that,” said Farlow.

“We also wanted to win. Our main goal was just to be competitive. We lost four players from last year’s starting lineup and we knew that we were going to have to make adjustments. We just wanted to look at who we had and play to our strengths as best we could.”

For Farlow, saying goodbye to her trio of senior stars, Gwen Allen, Val Radvany, and Sindhwani, is going to be tough.

“I came in with them and that class; we won one game in September their freshman year and we had to do a play-in game to even get into the Mercer County Tournament,” recalled Farlow.

“These girls worked very hard on the offseason; they played club. We built the team around them. That first year we were all about getting better; it was let’s win a half, let’s go from there and see how many outlet balls we can get. We set small goals.”

That hard work paid dividends as PDS made two of the last three MCT finals and three straight Prep B title games, winning the crown in 2016.

“We still has small goals the next year but we were just able to completely turn it around and get the one seed in the MCT,” said Farlow.

“Everything was so new, there were no expectations. They were playing very freely. After that, we had these expectations for the program. They have done a lot for the program. This senior class is special because they saw where we were and how far we have come.”

With such returning players as goalie Lexie Hausheer, defenders Skylar Mundenar and Madison Izzard along with  attacking players Ally Antonacci, Julia Lach, and the Allen twins, Lyla and Emily, the Panthers are poised to add to the legacy of the three seniors.

“They are big holes to fill so we will have to adjust how we play a little and possibly change our formation to play to our strengths again,” said Farlow.

“We have asked them to make a commitment in the offseason. Hopefully we have established ourselves as a program that is teaching better hockey and we can be competitive.”