GOING TO GOAL: Princeton High girls’ hockey player Maya Hagt heads up the ice in a game last season. On Friday, junior forward Hagt tallied a goal and an assist as PHS fell 9-7 to Newark East Side at Hobey Baker Rink. The Tigers, who moved to 0-4 with an 8-7 loss to Cranford last Monday, host Madison High on December 20 at Baker Rink in their last action before the holiday break. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

By Bill Alden

While Taylor Davidson has been skating since she was three years old, she didn’t start taking ice hockey seriously until middle school.

“I have known how to skate forever — my dad grew up playing hockey,” said Davidson. “But I played house league because we always went skiing. I started playing club about three years ago. I have definitely been working on it a lot more recently.”

That work has been paying dividends for Davidson as the freshman has made an immediate impact for the Princeton High girls’ hockey team, scoring two goals in her first two games. Last Friday against Newark East Side, Davidson was darting all over the ice at Hobey Baker Rink, tallying three goals and an assist in a losing cause as PHS fell 9-7 to the Red Raiders in an entertaining back-and-forth battle.

For Davidson, getting her the first hat trick in her high school career helped boost her self-belief.

“I am just gaining a little more confidence with this,” said Davidson, who plays her club hockey with Princeton Youth Hockey Association, where she skates with a boys’ team as well as a girls’ squad. “I have never played defense before this, I am learning how to play it.”

Davidson helped PHS get off to a hot start, scoring two goals as the Tigers built a 5-4 first period lead.

“I think we started really strong, everyone was playing pretty well,” said Davidson. “Offensively and defensively, we were doing pretty good. We were playing more as one team and not just individually. We are definitely getting better at passing. Each day, it is getting better and better.”

Trailing 7-6 heading into the third period, the Tigers carried play for much of the last 15 minutes as they tried to rally.

“It was definitely pressing through the third period,” staid Davidson. “We had to keep going.”

With 3:18 left in regulation, Davidson found the back of the net to narrow the gap to 8-7. Newark East Side responded with a goal less than two minutes later to hold off the Tigers.

“It was a really nice pass up from Cassie [Speir] to me,” said Davidson, reflecting on her tally. “It was just good passing by the team and good teamwork.”

Playing with Speir, who also scored three goals against Newark East Side, has been a nice plus for Davidson.

“I think it is awesome, it gives me something to look forward to, playing in the future with older girls,” said Davidson. “It is just nice that you can have someone to depend on out there. She is always there. It is good, I love playing with her.”

PHS head coach Christian Herzog loves having Davidson in the program.

“Taylor has one speed and that is it; she has a good read of the whole ice, she sees the whole ice and knows which way to go,” said Herzog of Davidson who tallied two goals and an assist last Monday as PHS fell 8-7 to Cranford to move to 0-4. “She is real good at moving it away from the strong side and approach it from the weak side to give her an advantage there. Sometimes she gets a little frustrated at herself when the bounces don’t go easy but she doesn’t give up. She is definitely a welcome addition to the team.”

Junior forward and team captain Maya Hagt also had a good game against the Red Raiders, tallying a goal and an assist.

“Maya played very well today, she made some good head-up choices,” said Herzog. “She didn’t run out of gas. It is a little more of an uphill battle for her because she didn’t play the majority of last season.”

Herzog credits Speir with battling hard at all times for the Tigers.

“Cassie is always an iron horse; she is there for the team and everybody, whether it be psychologically, emotionally and physically,” said Herzog. “Everybody counts on her and she knows that. She is always willing to shoulder the burden. I don’t have enough good things to say about her.”

Sophomore Sophia Lee has been showing some good improvement for PHS.

“Sophia has been playing better with good positioning, she has been doing a lot of double-shifting as far as center,” said Herzog. “She is a former figure skater — she gets her head down and she has a nose for the puck. She is not necessarily the big scorer but position-wise, she is handling it the right way, being in the right place at the right time.”

Getting the scoring outburst in the first period was a good sign for the Tigers.

“That doesn’t happen often,” said Herzog, whose team hosts Madison High on December 20 at Hobey Baker Rink in its last action before the holiday break. “We had some goals going in. Cassie has put up a bunch, and so has Taylor in the first two games of the season.”

In Davidson’s view, the performance by PHS against the Red Raiders was a step forward.

“We definitely made progress, scoring seven goals and only a two-goal difference,” said Davidson. “This is the best game we have had as a team.”