EL SID: Princeton High boys’ lacrosse Sid Suppiah fires a shot last Thursday as PHS played at Notre Dame in the CVC pod final. Senior midfielder Suppiah scored a goal in a losing cause as PHS fell 13-6 to the Irish and dropped to 8-4. The Tigers will be starting play in the North Jersey, Group 3 sectional tournament this week where they are seeded sixth and were slated to host 11th-seeded Morris Knolls on June 1. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

By Bill Alden

When the 2020 spring season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Sid Suppiah used that hiatus to transform himself into a force for the Princeton High boys’ lacrosse team.

“Benny Quinones [former PHS star midfielder] really pushed me in the weight room,” said Suppiah

“Quarantine put me in a rut a little bit. I wasn’t able to go to our Princeton High weight room, but I got a membership at a gym and started working out there.”

That work has paid off this spring with senior Suppiah emerging as a two-way midfielder for the Tigers, contributing goals and helping to spearhead the defense.

Suppiah’s play helped PHS pull off a dramatic 11-10 win over Allentown in the CVC pod semis and advance to the final against Notre Dame last Thursday.

Unable to build on the momentum from the win over the Redbirds, the Tigers sputtered early against the Irish in the final and found themselves trailing 7-1 at halftime.

“We came out a little flat-footed today,” said Suppiah. “We played our worst half of lacrosse of almost the entire season.”

With PHS looking to rally, Suppiah got it off to a good start in the second half, tallying a goal on a feed from Will Doran less than three minutes into the quarter.

“I just cut through the backside and Will Doran dimed me up so it was good,” said Suppiah, recalling the goal.

Tightening up at the defensive end and playing more efficiently offensively, the Tigers outscored Notre Dame 3-0 in third quarter but couldn’t close the deal as the Irish pulled away to a 13-6 win.

“We did better; we had to get more aggressive towards the end,” said Suppiah.

“We did feel like we were getting momentum, the time just ended up running out on us. Being down 7-1, you need to play an almost perfect game in order to come back from that.”

PHS head coach Chip Casto acknowledged that his squad was far from perfect in the first half.

“Their shooters were shooting; their equation worked out very well today,” said Casto. “We didn’t have a response for it.”

In his halftime message, Casto urged his players to get back to the game plan.

“It was more internal; let’s execute what we have all talked about and felt we would execute from the beginning,” said Casto.

“We were a step late in the whole first half. Once we got up and running, we saw that we could disrupt their offense a little and force them into some turnovers.”

After PHS executed well in the third quarter, a pivotal sequence early in the final period turned the tide against it.

“At 7-4, we had the ball and we had an opportunity to change the game and we missed it and then they took it down and scored,” said
Casto. “It was kind of over from there.”

Casto credited Suppiah with giving his all at both ends of the field.

“He gets exhausted, we use him so much,” said Casto, who got two goals and three assists from Doran and two goals from John O’Donnell in addition to Suppiah’s tally. “He is a warrior.”

With the Tigers starting play in the North Jersey, Group 3 sectional tournament this week where they are seeded sixth and were slated to host 11th-seeded Morris Knolls on June 1, Casto is confident that his players will bounce back from the loss to the Irish.

“They are going to carry a lot of animosity out of this, they are pretty angry, they are down,” said Casto.

“We will get the anger out of them and just get back to concentrating on the basics. It is Morris Knolls coming from the north. North Jersey teams always come hard, even if they are .500, they can play ball. We are just looking forward; referencing a loss here or there can help with motivation.”

Suppiah and his classmates will be bringing plenty of motivation to the state tournament.

“It is definitely bittersweet seeing our season dwindle down,” said Suppiah.

“Coming to a championship game today is special. The focus now is coming our strong and bringing the energy and taking it to Morris Knolls. We have our eyes on the rest of the season.”