RECORD PACE: Princeton Day School girls’ lacrosse player Tessa Caputo races upfield in game earlier this season. Last Wednesday, Caputo tallied five goals and four assists as PDS fell 16-15 to Notre Dame. On Monday, Caputo scored seven goals with two assists as fourth-seeded PDS fell 14-11 to fifth-seeded Hun in the quarterfinal round of the Mercer County Tournament. Fairfield University commit Caputo recently broke the program record of 232 career goals and now has 242. The Panthers, now 11-4, are next in action when they play in the Prep B state tournament where they are seeded second and are slated to host third-seeded Morristown-Beard in a semifinal contest on May 10. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

By Bill Alden

Tessa Caputo has been piling up the milestones this spring in her final season for the Princeton Day School girls’ lacrosse team.

Star attacker and Fairfield University commit Caputo recently broke the program record of 232 goals and now has 242. She also holds the Panther mark in points with 386 as she closes in on joining the 400 club.

While Caputo is proud of those achievements, she is not dwelling on stats.

“It is definitely something fun to look at but at the end of the day, it is not something that I am focused on going into games,” said Caputo. “My mom is all over it, she loves it.”

Last Wednesday against Notre Dame, Caputo displayed her focus as she tallied five goals and four assists in a thrilling back-and-forth contest that saw the Irish pull out a 16-15 win.

“We came into this knowing that it was going to be a battle, we really played to the end today,” said Caputo, who starred last year as PDS edged Notre Dame 12-11 in another nail-biter.

“It was a very physical game, both teams played their hearts out. They played great, they have such a good offense. At the end of the day, it could have gone either way.”
The Panthers played some very good offense as they broke down a perennially stingy Notre Dame defense.

“We practiced our offense a lot yesterday, that was all we worked on,” said Caputo. “We put Shelby [Ruf] in the middle which definitely worked great, freeing up that space and occupying their backer. I think that really worked well and that is why we were able to get such a good offense going.”

Trailing 10-7 midway through the third quarter, PDS went on a 5-1 run as it took advantage of a double man-up situation.

“That was what we needed,” said Caputo. “We kind of fell down early in the third quarter but we kept that energy up the whole game.”

In the fourth quarter, the foes were knotted at 13-13 and 14-14 before Notre Dame edged ahead 16-14. Caputo scored a goal with 1:43 left in regulation to narrow the gap to one and PDS had one last possession in the waning moments but could not score as Notre Dame goalie Margaret Ritson saved a last-second shot.

While the result stung, Caputo saw the performance by PDS as a good sign heading into postseason play.

“It really showed us today that we can compete with anyone, we are really stoked to go into playoffs,” said Caputo. “This definitely gives us some good momentum. I know we lost this game, but I think all of us have such high spirits about this game. This was one of the best games we have ever played, I am not sad about it or anything.”

Caputo is stoked to be competing for a few weeks more with fellow seniors Kelly Christie and Jesse Hollander.

“Me, Kelly, and Jesse are all super close off the field as well, I think that definitely helps,” said Caputo. “We have all been playing together since freshman year so that really helps. We just have such a great bond. We see each other, we work together in practice every day. We all trust each other so much.”

Next year, Caputo will be renewing a bond as she joins former PDS teammate Paige Gardner at Fairfield.

“I am so excited, I can’t wait; I have talked to her once in a while, She loves it and I am so excited to get out there with her and be a part of such an awesome team,” said Caputo, whose older brother, Cal, a former PDS standout, led the Williams College men’s lax team in scoring this spring with 61 points in 44 goals and 17 assists. “They are No. 22 in the nation, which is so awesome. I am really excited to work hard this summer for a chance at playing time.”

PDS first-year head coach Lucia Marcozzi was excited by her team’s effort against Notre Dame.

“We were expecting a tight game the entire time, and I am super happy it turned out that way,” said Marcozzi. “It was a great game, we kept coming back. Their defense is great, the coach knows what he is doing. We made a really valiant effort of getting our offense in check with them.”

The Panthers tweaked their offensive approach to deal with the Irish.

“They run a defense that you don’t see a lot — I played that defense in college. I was a backer, so for me I was, ‘heck yeah,’” said Marcozzi, a former Bucknell women’s lax star defender. “We had one day to practice, the thing with a backer though is that it stops a drive and we are drivers. We kind of had to change our mindset to look for feeds and look for passes. We put Shelby inside which was great. Tessa has a great head to see people cutting. Kelly and Jesse are so fast flying in, so that was great for us. One practice was able to get us close, maybe if we had two we would have gotten it. We worked so hard, I told them that this is one of my favorite games watching them.”

In Marcozzi’s view, the grit PDS showed against Notre Dame bodes well for the postseason challenges ahead.

“I think it is a good way to remember the heart that we have,” said Marcozzi, whose team fell 14-11 to Hun last Monday in the Mercer County Tournament quarterfinals and will host Morristown-Beard in the Prep B state semis on May 10. “This is good to keep the heart in the game to get us rolling for tournaments, so I am happy with this.”

Marcozzi was very happy with how Caputo triggered the offense against Notre Dame.

“I told her today, I put her low and she is usually up top,” said Marcozzi. “She was a little bummed and I said, ‘At low, you are the eyes. You are one of the smartest girls on this field and you have to be the eyes.’ She did a great job, she played like a quarterback today.”

Christie also did a great job against the Irish, tallying three goals and three assists.

“Kelly just has so much grit, it is crazy,” said Marcozzi. “People are always confusing her with Tessa. They are both quick, they play the same way. Kelly is awesome. She helps on the draws, she gets numerous draw controls that we need.”

The third senior offensive standout, Hollander, enjoyed an awesome moment in the contest as she hit the 100-point milestone in her career.

“She played a little more defense last year and a little bit in the mid this year,” said Marcozzi of Hollander who ended up with three goals and two assists against the Irish. “It is building her confidence, saying you can dodge, you can score. It has really helped having Tessa and Kelly build her up, these girls have a great chemistry. I am going to miss them next year. I am going to take it as long as I can this year, that is my goal.”

With PDS, now 11-4, also playing in the upcoming New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) Non-Public tourney later this month after completing action in the Prep B tourney, Marcozzi is confident that the Panthers will keep going hard.

“We have good games coming up; if we stay in this type of tenacity we can really make a run all the way to the end,” said Marcozzi. “It is one at a time.”

In Caputo’s view, PDS has what it takes make a memorable run.

“We need to keep playing like we did today with hustle and the hard work and keeping together as a team,” said Caputo. “It is really just focusing on the team, trusting each other and trusting our defense. It is keeping our heads up on the ball.”