FIGHTING TO THE END: Princeton Day School girls’ lacrosse player Kate Bennett, center, draws a crowd as she goes to goal against Morristown-Beard in the state Prep B title game last Monday. PDS senior star and Dartmouth-bound Bennett tallied three goals and an assist, but it wasn’t enough as the third-seeded Panthers fell 10-9 to the fifth-seeded Crimson on a last second goal. PDS, which was seeking a fourth-straight Prep B crown, ended the spring with an 8-9 record. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

By Bill Alden

Last Monday was a date that had been circled on the calendar all spring for the Princeton Day School girls’ lacrosse team.

It was the state Prep B championship game and, having won three straight crowns, the program was shooting from day one of the season to achieve a four-peat.

 Even though it was seeded third, PDS made it back to the title contest and hosted fifth-seeded Morristown-Beard on a sun-splashed Smoyer Field.

Panther senior star midfielder/attacker Kate Bennett knew that earning the fourth straight crown wasn’t going to come easy.

“This was going to be the game where we needed to play together and play our game,” said Bennett.

“We always talk about those beautiful passes in transition. We look to see them and get everyone involved.”

With Bennett scoring a goal and an assist, the Panthers enjoyed a beautiful start, jumping out to a 4-0 lead.

“We always do this little breathing thing in the beginning, breathe in, breathe out so when we come out here and we are ready to play and we are ready to go,” said Bennett. “We came out really strong; it was 4-0 and we were getting the draws.”

But the upstart Crimson made a strong response, reeling off five straight goals to take a 5-4 lead at halftime and then tallied the first three goals of the second half to go up 8-4.

“We fought back; Ellie Schofield came out there on the draw and she really crushed it,” said Bennett.

“Assists are where it was at for us today, and we were really looking for those inside passes.”

Bennett took advantage of some of those inside looks scoring two goals as PDS pulled ahead 9-8. But Mo-Beard tied the game at 9-9 and then pulled out the game tallying a goal with 0.6 seconds left in regulation.

The Panthers secured possession with about 1:30 left in regulation and generated a couple of shots but Mo- Beard was able to get the ball in the waning seconds and race down the field to find the back of the net just before the final buzzer went off.

“We had this play ‘Big Ben,’ that is the spread,’ said Bennett, who ended up with three goals and an assist on the day.

“When it was at 9-9, we knew it was going to come down to that last goal and our goal was to keep it there as long as possible, play out the clock, and then get that last shot. We got unlucky, they played really well.”

While Bennett was disappointed by the final result, she feels lucky to have shared the journey with her classmates.

“It was so fantastic, we had nine seniors on the team this year and it was totally different ballgame than having two captains as we always have,” said Bennett, who served as a team co-captain along with fellow seniors Kyra Hall, Bridget Kane, and Madison Mundenar.

“There was a lot of really good leadership in different ways. We spent the first half of the season specifically filling in spots; who is going to be the vocal defensive person and that leader by example. We figured it out, we started playing like we knew we could.”

PDS head coach Jill Thomas tipped her hat to the squad’s senior group.

“They have accomplished so much, look at them, leaving with a legacy like that,” said Thomas, whose senior group also includes Emma Dries, Elena Schomburg, Summer Patterson, Elizabeth Brennan, and Kaylah Bland in addition to Bennett, Hall, Kane, and Mundenar.

“You couldn’t ask for a finer bunch of girls. Many are going to go on and playing for bigger programs.”

In reflecting on the defeat in the finale which left the Panthers at 8-9, Thomas said she could not have asked for more from her players.

“They fought really, really hard,” said Thomas, who got two goals and an assist from Kane with Hall tallying a goal and two assists and junior Maddy Birch chipping in two goals.

“We were on fire in the beginning, they came back and had an answer and then we had answer for them. It was a game of runs, and whoever had it last was going to win. We just couldn’t stick one in there. Their goalie had a couple of good stops at the end. We just couldn’t find the back of the net when we needed to.”

Thomas credited Bennett with coming up with a very good performance in her last outing for the Panthers.

“Kate had a great game and that is how you want to go out,” said Thomas. “You want to leave it all on the field and be the best you can be.”

The Dartmouth-bound Bennett, for her part, is leaving with indelible memories of her PDS experience.

“I am proud to be able to carry this with me wherever I go,” said Bennett.

“Coach Thomas has been my longest teacher, longest coach, and longest friend at PDS. I have been with her for a while and this team has really been together since seventh grade. We played in and out of school together. It is going to be different, but I think all of us are really looking forward to the places we are going. This is one of those happy things that, whenever college is tough, we can look back on the years we have shared together.”