FINISHING TOUCH: Princeton High boys’ lacrosse player Braden Barlag heads past two Lawrenceville B players last week in the Mercer County Tournament semis. Junior attacker Barlag scored a career-best seven goals in the May 14 game as third-seeded PHS topped the Big Red 19-11. Two days later, Barlag tallied four goals and one assist but it wasn’t enough as the Tigers fell 16-11 to fifth-seeded and host Hopewell Valley in the MCT final. PHS, now 11-7, will be starting action in the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) North Jersey Group 3 tournament this week where they are seeded ninth and will play at eighth-seeded Northern Highlands in a first round contest on May 24. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

By Bill Alden

While Braden Barlag has piled up a lot of goals this spring for the Princeton High boys’ lacrosse team, he readily acknowledges that his production results from a group effort.

“It is amazing having two of the best players in the state,” said junior attacker Barlag, referring to Tiger senior star attacker Patrick Kenah and junior standout midfielder Brendan Beatty. “They are the best teammates you could ask for, and two of the best leaders. We have some other great players like Jason Singer and Alex Famiglietti. They are great dudes to play with and great guys. I love being on the team with them. They hit me on the stick every time so I can just step and shoot it. It is just an honor to play with them.”

Barlag has worked hard to take advantage of those opportunities.

“Lifting in the offseason was the biggest thing for me,” said Barlag. “It was also going for runs and shooting on my wall.”

Last week, Barlag’s shooting gave third-seeded PHS a big lift as it made a run to the Mercer County Tournament final. In a semifinal contest on May 14, Barlag poured in a career-high seven goals to help the Tigers top second-seeded Lawrenceville B 19-11. Two days later against fifth-seeded and host Hopewell Valley in title game, Barlag tallied four goals with an assist but it wasn’t enough as PHS lost 16-11.

The Tigers got off to a good start in the final they jumped out to a 5-4 lead with Barlag tallying two goals. But PHS hit a lull in the second quarter as it got outscored 5-0 by the Bulldogs.

“The big prompt for us is that you win ground balls and you win the game, I feel like we didn’t do that,” said Barlag. “Our offense got shut out in the second quarter — that flipped the momentum.”
The Tigers regained some momentum in the third quarter, outscoring the Bulldogs 5-4 in the period.

“We just weren’t finishing and then we started to get our shots,” said Barlag “We started to get some face-off wins.”

Barlag tallied two goals in the quarter as the Tigers trimmed the HoVal lead to 13-10.

“I figured it out, I kept shooting low and I decided to shoot it high with quick releases,” said Barlag. “It started to go in but it wasn’t enough to get it done.”

The Bulldogs got it done in the fourth quarter, controlling possession and outscoring the Tigers 3-1 over the last 12 minutes of the contest.

“They had a good game plan,” said Barlag. “They held the ball and we couldn’t get it away.”

While the loss stung, it was the first appearance for PHS in the county title game since 2017 when it lost 9-5 to Princeton Day School in the final.

“It is definitely a step up from last year,” said Barlag. “We are going to keep pushing forward in states.”

PHS head coach Chip Casto credited HoVal with pushing the pace in the final.

“Number 22 (Luke Caldwell) is a handful; we didn’t know what to do with him, we tried several things,” said Casto, whose team moved to 11-7 with the defeat. “He is really the quarterback of that team and he got what he wanted. They racked up a lot of goals on us and they played solid defense on our shooters. They had a good game plan, they packed it in and their goalie ended up coming with some big saves. They had the face-off to their advantage, I think, statistically. They were able to run their offense the way they wanted to.”

With the Tigers trailing 9-5 at halftime, Casto urged his players to focus on the basics.

“It was nothing different, just win face-offs, win ground balls and go hard to the goal,” said Casto. “When it was 13-10, we had a little life.”

Casto credited Barlag with giving the PHS attack life with his finishing touch.

“He is the beneficiary of Brendan and Patrick,” said Casto of Barlag, who has tallied 65 points this spring on 50 goals and 15 assists. “What he does really well is finish. He has gotten better and better as the years have gone on. He was really excited to play with Patrick this year.”

The Tigers were excited to return to the county final after a seven-year absence.

“These seniors were working so hard all year, this is one of the goals that they had,” said Casto, who got four goals and one assist from senior star Kenah against HoVal with senior Jason Singer chipping in one goal and two assists. “They made it here, and obviously their goal was to win. We haven’t been here in a while so we are back.”

With PHS starting action in the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) North Jersey Group 3 tournament this week where it is seeded ninth and will play at eighth-seeded Northern Highlands in a first round contest on May 24, Casto believes that his squad will keep working hard.

“This will be a blow but it will give us motivation as we move forward,” said Casto. “We have a got a little time to recover and then move into states. We have to stop the other team’s offense a bit better and we have to be able to score goals when we need them, just the basics.”

Barlag, for his part, believes that the Tigers can build on the MCT run as they compete in the state tourney.

“This kind of lights a fire under us, I haven’t won a state game in my career,” said Barlag. “That is the goal — it is the next step, move on, and keep pushing. Once again, it is ground balls, face-off wins, finishing, just sticking to our stuff and keeping our heads high.”