KACEY PRIME: Princeton High girls’ soccer player Kacey Howes, left, gets ready to boot the ball in a game earlier this season. Last Saturday, junior star Howes scored two goals in the second half as 10th-seeded PHS produced a late rally against seventh-seeded Princeton Day School in the first round of the Colonial Valley Conference (CVC) Tournament but came up short in a 3-2 loss. The Tigers, who defeated Hightstown 2-0 in a CVC consolation contest on Monday to move to 5-9-2, host the Peddie School on October 29. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

By Bill Alden

With the Princeton High girls’ soccer team having lost 2-0 to Princeton Day School in September, it looked like the Tigers were about to be blanked again in the rivalry when the local foes met last Saturday in the first round of the Colonial Valley Conference (CVC) Tournament.

Midway through the second half, 10th-seeded PHS trailed the host and seventh-seeded Panthers 3-0 despite generating some good scoring chances on set pieces, including a free kick that flew inches over the goal and a corner kick that resulted in the ball ricocheting off the crossbar.

But showing resilience, the Tigers got a pair of goals from junior star Kacey Howes to trim the margin to 3-2 and put the Panthers on their heels.

While PHS didn’t score the equalizer and fell by that 3-2 score, Tiger head coach Meghan Brennan was proud of how her team battled against PDS.

“We are confident in our abilities but we knew it would be a fight, we knew it could go either way,” said Brennan. “Going down 3-0 and coming back to 3-2 shows that fight. Kacey is incredible. She is such a good player and a great finisher. She really came through in the clutch. That just shows her character and grit for it to be 3-0 and for her to push and get two goals. It shows everyone’s grit.”

Brennan was not surprised that Howes sparked the rally. “She is a true fighter a true leader,” said Brennan of Howes. “She also has such good technical skills. She has a great first touch, a great first shot and a really good understanding of the field. She always knows what needs to happen and where. Her soccer IQ is really high. The other thing is she is always seeking feedback and incorporates it right away. She is so coachable.”

Sophomore Mathilde Pouliot has been displaying plenty of skill on the back line.

“I think Mathilde has been doing awesome, she is playing left back right now,” said Brennan. “She is really, really strong, she is a great defender. Mathilde has really stepped up. She is hard to beat, she is very, very good.”

Looking ahead, Brennan believes that Tigers will step up when they get to the state tournament.

“I feel our losses could have gone either way, I am excited for states,” said Brennan. “These are things we can keep building on. We made some mistakes today and they capitalized on them. Overall, especially in the second half, I am proud of how we played.”

Brennan is proud of how her squad has rebounded from a 1-8-2 start that saw it score just one goal in eight games from September 19-October 7.

“We have been getting more goals; when we started getting a few wins a few weeks ago, it was the confidence piece,” said Brennan, whose team defeated Hightstown 2-0 in a CVC consolation contest on Monday to move to 5-9-2 and hosts the Peddie School on October 29. “I think at the beginning we were having a lot of close losses and feeling down on ourselves. I think it was getting the confidence back, that was good.”