GRACEFUL EXIT: Princeton High girls’ hockey player Grace Rebak controls the puck in a game this year. Senior star defenseman and team captain Rebak helped PHS go 2-5-1 this winter. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

By Bill Alden

With the Princeton High girls’ hockey team having lost 10-6 to Randolph in December, it looked like a case of déjà vu when the foes met for a rematch in late January.

PHS was trailing 4-1 entering the third period and seemed headed for defeat. Undeterred by the deficit, the Tigers fought back with four unanswered goals and pulled out a dramatic 5-4 victory.

“Coming off the ice, the parents were saying ‘coach, that was amazing,’” said PHS head coach Christian Herzog reflecting on the triumph which saw Cassie Speir score three goals and Cece Gibb add two.

“It was definite high point for the team, a highlight of the season for sure. They were whooping it up like they won the Cup.”

The Tigers brought a determined attitude into the contest.

“I said ladies, we have to play for what it is, you never know,” said Herzog. “A few bounces, they take us for granted and they make a bad move and we take advantage. That is pretty much what happened.”

Senior goalie Jadie Tome handled the bounces well against Randolph, making 31 saves in the victory and stepping up down the stretch of the game.

“That was the best eight minutes I have ever seen her play, she was getting peppered and peppered in the third period,” said Herzog.

“We killed one penalty with six-eight minutes left in the game. They pulled their goalie and we were having trouble getting it out of the zone.”

The victory over the Rams marked the second straight win for PHS as it had rolled to a 12-1 win over Westfield a week earlier.

“It is good to be on the other side for once,” said Herzog, who got four goals and one assist from Gibb in that victory with Speir and Grace Rebak both adding two goals and an assist and Carly Ruzich, Defne Arsoy, Maya Hagt, and Kayla Christopher each chipping in a goal. “It was nice to see some different players get goals.”

With the Tigers posting a final record of 2-5-1, Herzog saw improvement through the winter.

“I think we did make progress, especially considering how many players we had who were brand new to the sport,” said Herzog.

“We had 11 seniors as a group. The majority of those were first-year seniors with a bunch of the field hockey girls.”

Senior captain Grace Rebak, along with assistant captains Kelsey Riley and Arsoy, helped set a positive tone.

“I think this year, even compared to previous years, there was more camaraderie,” said Herzog, noting that Riley won the team’s Head, Heart, Hustle award while Arsoy was selected as the squad’s Most Improved Player. “I attribute that to the captains.”

Star defenseman Rebak, who is headed to Willams College to play field hockey and lacrosse, has been a stalwart for the program.

“Grace is a great kid, a quality individual,” said Herzog of Rebak who won the Harry Rulon-Miller Sportsmanship Award for PHS as voted on by the Women’s Interscholastic Hockey League of the Mid-Atlantic (WIHLMA) coaches.

“She has been with the program the longest, all four years. The other captains are three-year players.”

Goalie Tome made a big impact on the program. “Through the years she has come a long way, she is going to be hard to replace,” said Herzog of Tome, who won the team’s Coaches Award. “She wasn’t a goalie starting out, it took a while to get her going. We took a few whippings in her first two years and started to get a few wins. She has come a long way, it is good to see her gain confidence over the years and have more tenacity. I will be sad to lose her.”

Tallying a team-high 11 goals, dynamic freshman forward Gibb was named the squad’s MVP.

“Cece has a nose for the goal,” said Herzog. “She is fast and is one of the  best freshmen I have had. She knows the ice well. She is a good, quality hockey player. You can see that she has put the effort in. She is playing on two travel teams. She is on the ice four or five days a week for practice and then has weekend games.”

Two other freshmen, Cassie Speir and Maya Hagt, gave the Tigers some quality play as Speir was chosen as the program’s Rookie of the Year while Hagt won the Captain’s Award.

“Cassie reminds me a lot of Gabby Vukasin [a former PHS star]; she is tenacious, physical,” said Herzog of Speir who tallied six goals this winter.

“She has got a nose for the goal, she knows how to ward off players and take it end to end. She has got size. Maya is a playmaker, she only had one goal but she sets things up.”

While PHS is losing 11 players to graduation, Herzog believes the program is in a good place.

“Those are the three main players that we will build around,” said Herzog of Gibb, Speir, and Hagt.

“One of the things that I really like about this program, is that it is not always about the winning and losing, it is about the experience.”