STEPPING UP: Princeton High boys’ soccer player Azariah Breitman goes after the ball in a 2023 game. Last Friday, senior star Breitman scored two goals to help third-seeded PHS defeat 11th-seeded New Brunswick 3-0 in the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) Central Jersey Group 4 sectional quarterfinals. The Tigers, who improved to 16-2-4 in the win, were slated to play at second-seeded Manalapan in the sectional semis on November 12 with the victor advancing to the final on November 15. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

By Bill Alden

As the Princeton High boys’ soccer team battled New Brunswick in the first half of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) Central Jersey Group 4 sectional quarterfinals last Friday, Azariah Breitman implored his teammates to pick up the intensity.

Yelling “Let’s go boys, energy” at various points, PHS senior striker Breitman made several forays into the box to no avail in the early going as the third-seeded Tigers were locked in a scoreless draw with an upset-minded 11th-seeded New Brunswick.

But after PHS midfielder Archie Smith missed a penalty kick, Breitman lurked in front of the goal and made an energetic, savvy move, sprinting in between the goalie and a defender to pick off a lazy kick and slotted the ball into the back of the net with 13:55 left in the half.

“They were just all excited because they made a big play and they turned off,” said Breitman. “They just passed it right across the box. I saw it, I swooped in there, and I got the goal. It felt pretty good.”

About eight minutes later, Breitman knocked in a rebound off of a shot by Aaron Thyrum to give PHS a 2-0 lead.

“Before the game, coach [Patrick] Remboski told us that the keeper is not going to hold the ball, follow every shot,” said Breitman, who now has a team-high 21 goals. “When Aaron takes that at the keeper, I know I just had to keep going. It fell to me luckily, I am happy to get the goal.”

The Tigers got a third goal from Smith with 4:49 remaining in the half and never looked back as they won by that 3-0 margin. PHS, who improved to 16-2-4 with the win, was slated to play at second-seeded Manalapan in the sectional semis on November 12 with the victor advancing to the final on November 15.

After averting an upset in the first round of the sectional as PHS edged 14th-seeded Hightstown on penalty kicks, Breitman and his teammates were focused on getting off to a fast start against New Brunswick.

“We knew that this team is an emotional team, the team we played last time was an emotional team,” said Breitman. “They run off of emotion, they run on hope. The farther you go into the game without scoring. the more hope they get, the more energy they get.”

Smith’s goal gave the Tigers an emotional lift. “That was beautiful, that was a classic Archie goal, just dribble it past the entire team and bang it off the crossbar,” said Breitman. “I knew that missing a penalty is not going to do anything to his confidence. He is going to come back, he is going to score a great goal. You love to see it.”

In the second half, PHS took care of business as it held off the feisty Zebras.

“At halftime, coach (Ryan Walsh) told us, kill the game, don’t do anything stupid,” said Breitman. “Let’s do it and we did. I am happy with my team, I am happy with my defense as always and ready for the next round. It feels great to get a 3-nil win, especially against a team like this. I am sure that the whole team is really confident and ready for the next one.”

As a senior, Breitman is bringing a special urgency to postseason play.

“Every game could be my last playing with these guys,” said Bretiman. “Waking up going into it, I don’t want to think about it like that because it might get me a little stressed out. Before the game in the huddle, I said boys I love playing with you don’t let this be our last game. It just feels great to keep winning.”

PHS head coach Walsh felt that his squad was controlling the game even though it was knotted at 0-0 for the first 25 minutes.

“The coach over there (Joseph Dziuba) does a really good job with that team and program,” said Walsh. “They are well organized and they play pretty well. We felt like we were getting pretty dangerous and in behind early on. We just couldn’t quite get the right bounce.”

Walsh was not surprised that Breitman broke the ice for the Tigers. That is the way he is; he is such a workhorse, he has been like that for four years with us,” said Walsh. “He is a straight dog in a good way, that is the only way to describe that kid. When he scores, sometimes the goals are great and pretty and sometimes they are like that. I will take every goal, he can give us.”

Smith’s goal was a very good moment for PHS as well. “It was great for him to be resilient and not let that effect the rest of his game,” said Walsh. “He has been resilient all year, he had a great finish on that goal.”

The Tiger defense displayed resilience, thwarting New Brunswick as it pressed forward.

“In the second half, they pushed numbers forward and we had to defend a little bit more,” said Walsh. “Our back four has been great for us all year, they have really developed a great chemistry together. Chase [Hamerschlag] and Thom [Lord] lead in the back. Matt Chao has been so consistent, he sometimes gets forgotten back there.”

With PHS having won the NJSIAA Group 4 state title last fall, Walsh believes that this year’s squad has what it takes to produce an encore performance.

“I have a lot of confidence in this team; this team is definitely different than last year in a lot of ways,” said Walsh. “We still have a lot of talent, we have a lot of fight in us. I have a lot of confidence that we can continue on Tuesday. We definitely have gotten better as the season has gone on. We are a totally different team now than we were back in early September. I think the team we are now could still win the title.”

Breitman, for his part, is confident that the Tigers can contend for another title.

“I think 100 percent we have the quality, the confidence, the ability, the players, and especially the coaching staff,” said Breitman. “When we started out, it was a little shaky but as the season has gone on, we keep scoring more goals, we keep winning more games, our confidence keeps building. I know we can do it.”