LIFE OF RILEY: Princeton Day School girls’ soccer goalie Riley Felsher goes up for a save in a game earlier this season. Last Thursday, senior star and NYU-bound Felsher made nine saves to help PDS defeat Pennington 3-1. The Panthers, who moved to 6-1 with a 6-3 loss at Blair Academy last Saturday, are slated to host Lawrenceville School on September 28. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

By Bill Alden

Riley Felsher had a good feeling as the Princeton Day School girls’ soccer team hosted powerhouse Pennington last Wednesday afternoon.

Even though PDS had lost four in row in the rivalry, including defeats last year in a regular season meeting and Mercer County Tournament semifinals, senior goalie Felsher and her teammates were ready to turn the tables on the Red Raiders.

“Knowing we have been close to beating them and how the competition has been in the last couple of years that we have seen them, we were confident,” said Felsher.

“This past week, we had three days of practice. We had the win over Steinert (3-0 on September 14), I think we had the momentum from that and having the practices.”

In the early stages of the contest, though, Pennington seized momentum as its star midfielder Kylie Daigle launched several rockets on frame which Felsher turned away as she got into a rhythm.

“Our defense did a really good job of shutting her down; that is something we were talking about before the game,” said Felsher.

“Cailyn [Jones] and Anna [Ellwood], the two center backs, did a really good job of keeping her on her right foot. We knew she was a big threat with her left foot. After the first couple of minutes, I got into the zone.”

Felsher’s heroics, which included several sprawling saves, helped PDS battle the Red Raiders to a scoreless tie at halftime. In the second half, the Panthers broke the ice as senior star Ariana Jones scored with 36:33 left in regulation and minutes later, her younger sister, sophomore defender Cailyn, found the back of the net to put the Panthers up 2-0.

But then Felsher and PDS back line was under the gun as the Red Raiders responded with a goal and things got dicey until Ellwood bounced in an insurance goal to help the Panthers prevail 3-1.

“We know if we let up a goal, we all just have to take a deep breath and restart,” said Felsher.

“We just have to recognize that. We had that moment where we kind of turned off and we picked it back up and then we had the goal from Anna.”

Felsher made one last leaping save on the day, punching away a Pennington shot in the final seconds of the contest.

“I saw their right back coming up and no one was stepping in and everyone was telling her to shoot it, so I knew it was coming,” said Felsher, who recorded nine saves in the triumph. “It is amazing. We were talking about this whole season, having the momentum and keep rolling and taking this win,” said Felsher. “We have a bunch of big games coming up so it was great to get this win.”

Felsher has made some amazing progress over the last three years. She went from being understudy as a freshman to former star goalie Grace Barbara, who is now playing for the Princeton University women’s squad, and then taking over the starting role as a sophomore when Barbara couldn’t play for PDS in her senior year to due to conflicts with her academy team.

“It was great training with her and having that kind of role model skill wise and as a person,” said Felsher, who is headed to NYU where she will be playing for its Division III women’s soccer program. “That was a great experience, she definitely taught me a lot.”

PDS head coach Pat Trombetta sensed that his squad had a great chance to break its losing streak to the Red Raiders.

“We felt confident coming into today, the girls had a very good practice yesterday,” said Trombetta.

“They were determined. It is a focused group with some experience. Even some of the young players out here today showed up, which was great to see.”

When senior Jones hit the woodwork with a blast just before halftime, it gave the Panthers confidence going into the second half.

“The shot that Ariana pulled off in the last 50 seconds hit the crossbar gave us a little bit of a lift,” said Trombetta. “It showed us we have got opportunities here if we take advantage of them.”

After taking advantage of the opportunities to build the 2-0 lead, PDS had to hold off a proud Pennington squad.

“The first goal got us on the board, which built confidence up,” said Trombetta.

“The second goal gave us a little more confidence but they got one back and we were playing on our heels a little bit.”

With Felsher stepping up, the Panthers were able to ultimately thwart the Red Raiders.

“Riley was fantastic, she was our Player of the Game,” said Trombetta.

“Usually we don’t have the same player win it two games in a row and this is two games in a row for her. She has really picked up her game. You see what she does out there for us. As that last line of defense back there, she is doing a hell of a job.”

With some tough games on the horizon, PDS will need to pick up its game.

“We have a strong schedule ahead of us, but what this does is it just builds confidence,” said Trombetta, whose team moved to 6-1 with a 6-3 loss at Blair Academy last Saturday and is slated to host Lawrenceville School on September 28.

“Even some of the young players like Grace Romano and Aislynn Macco made some major contributions. They grew up on the big stage today. We wanted this. One of our goals coming into the season was to beat Pennington because they have had the best of us in the past number of years. It is a big shot in the arm for the program.”

Felsher, for her part, believes that the Panthers can do some big things this fall.

“Our saying as a team this year is go hard or go home,” said Felsher. “We are just looking to keep going and keep rolling.”