BREAKING NEWS: Former Princeton High boys’ soccer head coach Wayne Sutcliffe does a TV interview last Thursday at Conte’s. Sutcliffe was giving his thoughts on the release of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, a former PHS soccer standout, from a Russian jail in a prisoner swap.

By Bill Alden

When Wayne Sutcliffe woke up last Thursday, he had no idea that he would be spending the afternoon doing TV interviews.

But early that morning, former Princeton High boys’ soccer head coach Sutcliffe got news he had been waiting to hear for months, learning that Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, a former PHS soccer standout, was being released from a Russian jail in a prisoner swap after being confined since March 2023.

“I found out indirectly on a Twitter post from someone who was connected at the New York Times,” said Sutcliffe. “It was absolute sheer joy, excitement, relief. Hours later local media sources, TV from New York and Philly, were reaching out to me and the admin at Princeton High School.”

Sutcliffe then headed to Conte’s along with former assistant coach Salvy Baldino to deal with the media requests.

“I wound up doing interviews at Conte’s basically from 12 to 4:30 in the afternoon,” said Sutcliffe, noting that he was getting texts from his former players throughout the day. “It was great to talk and share about Evan and express our relief personally. We also answered questions about what type of person he was when we knew him and what type of soccer player he was and what we thought might have helped him persevere under those extraordinary circumstances.”

Reflecting on Gershkovich’s on-field qualities during his PHS career, Sutcliffe pointed to his tenacity, skill, and guts.

“While he was playing for us, he had a steel will in terms of his desire for success and a resilience,” said Sutcliffe of Gershkovich, a three-year starter who came up big in the midfield in his senior year for the 2009 PHS team that won the Group 3 state championship. “He always took the first penalty kick if we were in a shootout. He never got rattled and he also had great, great technique. He had the courage, something that you can’t really define.”

Baldino, for his part, was pleasantly surprised by the dramatic turn of events, noting that there had been rumors over the months of Gershkovich’s release that hadn’t come to fruition.

“It was such a joyous occasion,” said Baldino. “I never really thought about the day that Evan would come back. We were hopeful. In our head, you see this guy Paul Whelan and he is there five years.”

The force of Gershkovich’s personality gave his friends hope that he would persevere through the ordeal.

“I think the most interesting part of the last year and a half was hearing how he just touched everybody’s life in a positive way,” said Baldino, noting that Gershkovich apparently asked to interview Russian President Vladimir Putin upon his arrival in Turkey last Thursday in the first stop on his trip back to the U.S.

“You hear interviews with his Bowdoin College friends, Moscow Times reporters, New York Times reporters, and Wall Street Journal reporters. It is just seeing how he is such a lovable guy.”

Gershkovich had a similar impact on his PHS teammates. “He was a captain here, he was more of a leader by example,” said Baldino. “Once in a while he would get loud and say what needed to be said.”

For Baldino, the emotions poured out when he saw Gershkovich exit the plane last Thursday night at Joint Base Andrews and then greet his family on the tarmac.

“We all cried, especially when he hugged his mom,” said Baldino, noting that a private function at Conte’s previously scheduled for late August as an awareness event will now be a celebration. “I am sure Evan was OK in that jail but you feel for the poor mother, not knowing where her son is or how he is doing.”

Sutcliffe, for his part, was similarly moved. “For me personally, I just thought what a moment for him and then his mom,” said Sutcliffe. “She went to Europe many times. She met with German diplomats and President Biden personally at various political functions. She was, outside of the government, the driving force in a relentless way for his release, so I was just so happy for his mom.”

Down the road, Sutcliffe is looking forward to getting the chance to talk to Gershkovich and express his joy and relief.

“’I am so happy to see you and that you are home safe,’ that is the No. 1 thing I will say,” said Sutcliffe, noting that PHS boys’ soccer would like to hold a pregame ceremony this fall welcoming Gershkovich as a follow-up to a rally held in his support last September before the Tigers played Notre Dame. “’You were incredible when you played soccer for us, and you are even more incredible now.’”

Last Thursday certainly proved to be an incredible day for Gershkovich’s former PHS soccer coaches and teammates.