FANCY FOOTWORK: Princeton High girls’ soccer player Marina Zaldarriaga, right, controls the ball in a game last year. Senior midfielder and co-captain Zaldarriaga is looking to come up big in her final season with PHS. The Tigers, who have a new head coach in Meghan Brennan, open their 2024 campaign by playing at Marlboro on September 9. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

By Bill Alden

Meghan Brennan is coming full circle as she takes the helm of the Princeton High girls’ soccer team this fall.

Brennan, a 2013 PHS alumna, starred for the Tiger program during her high years before going on to play at Hamilton College.

In 2019, Brennan returned to PHS as a volunteer assistant coach of the girls’ squad and then became a full-fledged assistant coach in 2021 when she took a job as a school counselor at her alma mater.

This season, she has moved up to the head coaching role, succeeding Dave Kosa.

For Brennan, playing at PHS changed the course of her life.

“I played for Greg Hand and Val Rodriguez, it was an incredible experience,” said Brennan, who helped PHS go 10-9-1 in 2023. “It was definitely something that was pretty transformative, they were wonderful coaches. They were instrumental in my development as a player as well as my desire to be a coach.”

That experience led Brennan to return to PHS in 2019 to work with the Tiger girls’ soccer program.

“Coaching with Val was wonderful, part of the reason I reached out in grad school to volunteer with her was because I wanted to learn from her,” said Brennan. “She does a really, really great job of connecting with players. Especially as a counselor, that is something that is super important to me. I felt like I could learn from her how to develop a program that is super competitive but also maintains a strong sense of community and strong relationships. I think that is something that Val and Greg did really well, they cared about us as people first and then players.”

With PHS opening its 2024 season by playing at Marlboro on September 9, Brennan is taking a page out of Rodriguez’s book as she has gotten her squad ready for the fall.

“My main thing this season is to help these girls develop team chemistry; that has been our goal throughout preseason and the summer,” said Brennan. “We have great talent and I just want them to find that chemistry and play together. Once they start playing to each other’s strengths and really coming together, I think we are going to see great things.”

The players have bought into that approach. “I do think they are building chemistry, we did the 7-on-7 league this summer and I thought they looked really, really good,” said Brennan. “I think they are well on their way, I am also blessed with a great, great group of captains, two seniors and two juniors (seniors Ava Tabeart and Marina Zaldarriaga along with juniors Romy Johnson and Kasey Howes). I had high expectations for them but they have exceeded them. They are doing such a great job jfostering a positive, inclusive team environment.”

At forward, PHS should get a positive contribution from the quartet of Howes (4 goals, 4 assists in 2023), senior Manuela Dante Boarato (2 goals, 1 assist), sophomore Leah O’Neill, and sophomore Olivia Hegedus.

“Kasey was a center mid last year, she can also do great things at forward; Manu is very good,” said Brennan. “We have younger players too like Leah and Olivia. We have a bunch of new talent combined with Manu and Kasey.”

Across the midfield, sophomore Taylor Hamerschlag (1 assist), junior Clara Burton (1 assist), senior Marina Zaldarriaga (1 assist), junior Quinn Gallagher (5 goals, 2 assists), junior Emily Walden 1 goal), and sophomore Maddie Aboumeri are poised to do some good things.

“In the midfield there are a bunch of girls, Taylor and Clara are super, super solid,” said Brennan. “They are really coming into their own, they are really skilled players. We have them at center mids. Marina is going to be good on the outside as is Quinn. Emily played center mid and has done really well. Maddie is new this year but she has really impressed me as well.”

On defense, co-captains Johnson (1 goals, 1 assist) and Tabeart (2 assists) will be spearheading the back line with sophomore Mathilde Pouliot, sophomore Helena Murray, and senior Charlotte Colarusso in the mix.

“Romy and Ava will anchor our back line,” said Brennan. “We have some new faces that will probably be back there as well. Mathilde looks really good. Helena and Charlotte have been looking good. They are making my job hard, I am definitely grateful for the scrimmages that we have.”

Brennan is grateful to have sophomore Julia Zaldarriaga (85 saves in 2023) back at goalie.

“Julia is incredible, she was so good last year and has gotten even better,” said Brennan. “I have nothing but amazing things to say about her. She is so skilled and knows the game so well. She is such a good leader and a good teammate. Everyone has the utmost respect for her. She does speak up on the field and people know that she knows what she is doing.”

Looking ahead to the fall, Brennan believes that PHS can get better and better as it goes through the season.

“I truly feel like us playing together and playing good, quality soccer is going to the key,” said Brennan. “We have so much talent, we just need to learn to play together and play to each other’s talents. We have started to see glimmers of, ‘oh this is going to be really good.’ I think the more that they start getting used to each other and playing to each other’s strengths, the better they will be. It takes time but it has not even been two weeks and they have already started to do that more. I think they are going to grow a lot this season.”