OH YES: Princeton Day School girls’ soccer player Tochi Owunna marks an opponent in a game earlier this season. Senior star defender Owunnahas helped shore up the back line as PDS has gotten off to a 5-0-1 start. The Panthers host the Hun School on September 28 and Notre Dame on October 2. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

By Bill Alden

Tochi Owunna and her teammates on the Princeton Day School girls’ soccer team found themselves on their heels in the early going when they hosted Allentown last Friday afternoon in a battle of unbeatens.

“We were definitely a little discombobulated in our warmup,” said senior defender Owunna. “In the first half, we were a little intimidated by them.”

But with Owunna and Ella McLaren working together to stymie Allentown star Bella Conti, the teams were locked in a scoreless tie at halftime.

“It was staying on her, she is technically very advanced and is very fast,” said Owunna of Conti. “Me and my other center back, Ella, were communicating in the back and also making sure that we were on her when she had the ball.”

After halftime, PDS gained some momentum as they got more ball possession.

“In the second half, we came out ready to fight and ready to try and score,” said Owunna.

While the Panthers didn’t score, they acquitted themselves well in battling to a 0-0 draw with the Redbirds through 80 minutes of regulation and 20 minutes of overtime.

“We were able to come out and play so hard against a team that is technically advanced, athletically advanced and stronger than us,” said Owunna. “I think it was just amazing.”

Owunna’s partnership with sophomore McLaren has helped PDS develop a strong back line this season.

“We have a good dynamic. Last year it was me and Kirsten Ruf; Ella didn’t play center back except for a couple of times,” said Owunna. “This year in preseason, we definitely worked on us as the back two. Doing that in our first four, five games, we have been working on our relationship as the two center backs.”

Working on her game, Owunna has made progress individually.

“I switched club teams last year,” said Owunna, who is looking to continue her soccer career at the college level. “I think being on a new team helped me get exposed to a higher level of play, which definitely helped me this year.”

PDS head coach Chris Pettit credited his players with prodding a gritty performance as they battled the high level Allentown squad.

“It was a very informative game — the way that they were organized, the intensity with which they played, and the strength that they have challenged us in ways we haven’t been challenged,” said Pettit. “I thought we hung in there. We really struggled to overcome their numbers in midfield and the speed and physicality with which they play.”

After seeing his team scramble a bit in the first half to keep up with the Redbirds, Pettit had three points of emphasis in his halftime message.

“At halftime there were three things that I wanted to fix, one was being able to match their intensity, which I didn’t think we did,” said Pettit. “Second was having our formation work — we ended up getting dragged out of position trying to do certain things. It is like we have to go back to our play so that we can possess the ball. I thought as the game went on we grew into that. The third part was once we have the formation around, then we can pass and move. As the game went on, we started to realize we could do that and it worked.”

The Panthers took Pettit’s words to heart. “I said to them at halftime, ‘the good news is that we haven’t played great and they have been the better team, but it is nil-nil so now we get to fix the three things that we control,’” said Pettit. “I thought in the second half it was more even but we were better in extra time. We had a couple of good chances to win it.”

The partnership of Owunna and McLaren at center back helped PDS control play.

“Tochi is tremendous — everybody looks at Tochi as the safety net for her speed and that definitely helps, but she does so much more,” said Pettit. “Her and Ella work so well together because they are aggressive on front foot defending but they cover for each other. Their understanding is so good. Those two really give us the platform to build and I thought the fullbacks, A.J. [Szalabofka] and Emma [Burns], did well and Jen [Lightman] when she went in there.”

The squad’s stingy defense can keep the Panthers competitive even when their offense is misfiring.

“I thought the whole defensive shape bodes well, and when you have a defensive performance like that you can have an off day going forward like we did,” said Pettit. “Our possession wasn’t where it needed to be; some of that was on us and you have to give credit to Allentown. When your defense can keep you in games for 100 minutes without any goals against an offense like that with Bella and what not, you are always in the game.”

With PDS improving to 5-0-1 with a 1-0 win over Princeton High last Saturday, Pettit believes the Panthers are in good shape a month into the season.

“I am generally happy overall, defensively we have been very sound,” said Pettit. “Last year early in we were giving up the first goal every game. This year we have been very solid there. It has been clicking on offense more than it did last year, so that has been pleasing. The real takeaway for me today was that we really hung in and battled against a team who brought it today. They had the intensity and we managed to hang with them. In prior years, I think we would have struggled with that more than we did today.”

In Owunna’s view, PDS will keep bringing it as the fall unfolds.

“I think for us it is finishing in the final third in important games like this one and also keeping our shape on the backline,” said Owunna. “We have been keeping our shape really well and keeping teams offsides a lot.”