GETTING THEIR KICKS: Members of Princeton High boys’ soccer team enjoy kicking the ball around in a drill at recent practice. PHS, coming off a 16-2-3 campaign last fall, open the 2016 season by hosting Hopewell Valley on September 8. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

The bar has been set high for the Princeton High boys’ soccer team.

Last fall, PHS posted a sparkling 16-2-3 record but with the losses coming in the semis of the Mercer County Tournament and the sectional tourney, the team ended the season with a sense of disappointment.

While the lineup of the Little Tigers will feature a number of new faces this fall, PHS head coach Wayne Sutcliffe and his players aren’t looking at 2016 as a rebuilding year.

“I think collectively the whole team has bought in to the fact that there is a standard that has to be met historically,” said Sutcliffe.

“There are opportunities this year since we lost quite a few players from last year. We have seen pretty good evidence of the work rate and the commitment to  building a team in the first few weeks.”

Sutcliffe is expecting good work from his corps of strikers that features senior Alex Ratsan along with a trio of juniors, Noam Davidov, Dean Patel, and Harry Malady.

“Alex is looking good, he is working his way into form,” said Sutcliffe. “We have Noam who is a very strong forward that can hold guys off and hold the ball up. He has proven to be good in and around the area. Dean is a crafty, technical striker, he has had a good preseason. Harry has got a lot of pace and also has the ability to hold the ball up. We do have some good balance; all of these guys are experienced strikers who are all full-time players.”

PHS will feature two of its two top guys in the midfield with senior Andrew Goldsmith and junior Andrew Beamer.

“Andrew Goldsmith is the attacking center mid; we are looking for Andrew to make plays and pull the string in the center of the park,” said Sutlcliffe.

“He has had a high possession percentage, which is what he has to keep getting better on and break plays when we need him. Drew Beamer is our holding center mid, he is a fantastic player. He is tucked in behind Andrew; his job is to protect the back four, pull off plays, and get up into the attack and combine with Andrew.”

Sophomore Josh Neiman, senior T. J. Korsah, sophomore Sebastian Ratzan, and junior Jun Hasegawa will be providing support to Goldsmith and Beamer in the middle of the field.

“Josh is a very speedy player, he is going to be a wide mid,” added Sutcliffe. “On the other side we have T.J. Korsah, he is a left-sided player, brings a lot of speed going forward. Then we have Sebastian who was a standout player from last year at the freshman level. He has very good speed and likes to take players on. Jun Hasegawa is a Japanese player who is very speedy.”

One of PHS’s most talented players, senior Sam Serxner, will be setting the pace on the back line.

“Sam is playing outside right back because a lot of our attack is based on the wing backs and he brings another dimension,” said Sutcliffe.

“He has got good pace on the flank and is a really hard-nosed player. I can’t say enough about Sam and his commitment in the weight room in the spring. We have terrific alumni pickup games in the summer and he was at every one. Sam has been great, he is such a pivotal person.”

The Little Tigers will be looking for some great play from the other members of its defensive unit, which also includes junior Ian Jacobs, junior Noah Middlekauff, and junior Quentin Pompliano.

“Ian is a center back who is very strong, very good in the air, and has very good feet; he is a very tenacious player,” said Sutlcliffe.

“In front of him is Noah, also a center back, who has good feet with good decision-making. He is having a great preseason. Quentin Pompliano is left-footed so he is our outside left back.”

Junior Patrick Jacobs is taking over at goalie, having learned the ropes from playing behind Owen Lindenfeldar and Laurenz Reimitz the last two years.

“Patrick approaches it the right way, he is all business,” asserted Sutcliffe.

“He is competitive; he has good command of the box. He has really good verbal command of things. He is a very good athlete, he is a hard worker. He has great potential to get better. He has been around this program, he knows about the standard. We have full confidence in him but with that being said, you have to keep getting better.”

In Sutcliffe’s view, his players have to develop a tough mentality to go with their skills in order to meet the program’s high standards.

“They have to keep doing what they are doing; they have to keep getting better with the ball and getting on the same page,” said Sutcliffe.

“But more than that, when we do have some challenging times in however many weeks, it is their collective and individual response to that. If we drop a game or have a bad day, it is how they respond because this group has all the potential to win things.”