STEPPING UP: Princeton Day School field hockey player Sammy Dandy, right, goes after the ball in a game earlier this season. Sophomore Dandy has scored one goal so far this season for PDS. The Panthers, who lost 7-0 to Notre Dame last Monday to move to 3-5, play at Allentown on October 2 and at WW/P-North on October 7. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

By Bill Alden

Undeterred by a steady rain that fell as it played at Hopewell Valley High last Friday afternoon, the Princeton Day School field hockey team came out firing.

Cashing in on some deft passing, PDS jumped out to a 1-0 lead with 6:41 left in the first quarter as Reagan Falconi blasted the ball into the cage, converting an insert by Olivia Herscovici on a penalty corner.

“We were passing and moving, we played well,” said PDS head coach Heather Farlow. “That is the kind of hockey that we want to play. That possession, the passing, that was really nice. That is our second goal off a corner this year.”

But Hopewell Valley poured it on after that, scoring two unanswered goals in a five-minute span in the second quarter and then adding one each in the third and fourth quarters to pull away to a 4-1 win.

“Hopewell made adjustments, they got their rhythm so kudos to them,” said Farlow. “They played well. We worked really hard defensively to get it out and then we were having difficulty generating offense. It is the next piece we have to work on.”

In Farlow’s view, the Panthers have made progress in other areas of the field.

“I build from the back, I am trying to build up our circle defense and then transition out to middle third,” said Farlow. “Now I have to build our attack.”

PDS has been held back this fall by injuries and illness. “We are not completely healthy,” said Farlow, whose team lost 7-0 to Notre Dame last Monday to move to 3-5 and plays at Allentown on October 2 and at WW/P-North on October 7. “I have two out on concussion protocol and we have had lingering sickness. We haven’t had a full squad at practice in probably two and a half weeks, so that has been tough.”

The squad’s core of young players which includes freshmen Herscovici, Lena Wijaya, Syann Priester, and Joline Su along with sophomores Falconi and Sammy Dandy have displayed their toughness. “They work incredibly hard, it has been nice,” said Farlow.

In goal, senior Molly Hall has been giving the Panthers some incredible play.

“Molly has been great; she has been a great leader in back, there is a calmness to her,” said Farlow of Hall, who recorded 19 saves against HoVal and had 16 against Notre Dame. “She is going to Tufts to play. She has made saves that we have needed and saves that we have wanted. She was absolutely outstanding today.”

Another senior, Charlotte Mullen, has also been outstanding. “Charlotte is a hustler, she is one of the hardest working kids,” said Farlow. “She is playing both ends on defense corners and offensive corners.”

Junior Amelia Lach has shored up the PDS defensive unit.

“We put Amelia in a new position at center back,” said Farlow. “She has great stick skills, she has been doing great for us back there.”

While things didn’t go great for the Panthers as HoVal rained on their parade, Farlow believes her squad can get on the winning track.

“If we can get everybody healthy then I think we will be able to continue to move forward,” said Farlow. “We have to just keep working on the basics and keep getting after it.”