DOWN PAT: Princeton High boys’ lacrosse Patrick McDonald cradles the ball in a 2018 game. Senior attackman McDonald figures to be a go-to scorer for PHS this spring. The Tigers get their 2021 campaign underway this week by playing at Hopewell Valley on April 20, hosting Notre Dame on April 22, and then playing at Allentown on April 26. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

By Bill Alden

As the Princeton High boys’ lacrosse has hit the field this spring after having its 2020 season canceled due to the pandemic, the squad’s seniors are looking to make the most of their final campaign.

“We are fortunate to have a lot of seniors who missed their junior year so this is super valuable to them,” said PHS head coach Chip Casto, whose team gets its 2021 campaign underway this week by playing at Hopewell Valley on April 20, hosting Notre Dame on April 22, and then playing at Allentown on April 26.

“They have come to the understanding that this really is something that I love to do and this might be my last year doing it. They have been very, very upbeat, on time, and energetic.”

The pair of junior Will Doran and senior Pat McDonald along with freshman Patrick Kenah should provide energy on attack.

“Will and Pat are our two studs,” said Casto. “We may actually have a freshman starter in Patrick. He is very special, he is just a polished player. We are really excited about him.”

Casto is looking for junior John O’Donnell, senior Nevin Motto, senior Sid Suppiah, and junior Owen Deming to spearhead the midfield.

“John is a hockey player, he is probably going to be like our Swiss Army knife,” added Casto.

“He is going to play a little bit of everything, he is really, solid. Nevin is a kid who does all of the basic things really well. Our big middie this year is going to be Sid, he has been in the weight room for two years. He is strong, he wants to play. He has been great. Owen has switched to shortstick this year and he has been doing really well.”

On defense, the quartet of senior Lucas Kirby, senior Simon Sheppard, junior Will Erickson, and junior Andrew Koehler should be leading the way.

“They communicate really well and they love the defensive mentality,” said Casto. “They have brought a lot of energy to practice, challenging the offensive players.”

Senior Austin Micale, a star ice hockey player, is emerging as a force at goalie for PHS.

“We have the Trentonian hockey defenseman of the year in Austin,” said Casto.

“I was thinking he would be just a good goalie but the way  he is stepping into the ball, he has put in extra time to improve. He has taken a lot of shots. His sophomore year was his first year and he played JV goalie. He was like a hockey guy with kick saves. On his own, though, he worked on his technique. He is technically a pretty good lacrosse goalie and he is hockey tough.”

Heading into the 2021 campaign, Casto is looking to get his squad to be efficient and tactically sound.

“We have got to be injury free, like everybody else,” said Casto.

“With our numbers, we have to manage the game a whole lot better, that gray area of when do you let them speed up and when do you slow them down. You have got to work on all of those situations day-to-day and game-to-game.”

With PHS featuring seven seniors and eight juniors, Casto believes that experience will pay dividends.

“I am really happy to have the core be seniors and some really experienced juniors because they can take coaching and apply it right away and understand what we are trying to do,” said Casto.

“We have been going almost every day double sessions on spring break. You have got to get to know each other and jell. It has been great. The seniors are really conscious of trying to keep a culture that we have had, helping each other out. They have been great in maintaining what coach Stanton [former head coach and current assistant coach Peter Stanton] started. He is an historian and a philosopher, he is the long term thinker.”