(Photo by Bill Allen/NJ SportAction) caption: ATTACK-MINDED: Princeton Day School girls’ lacrosse star Cammie Linville heads up the field in recent action. Linville has scored a team-high 33 points on 23 goals and 10 assists this spring to help PDS get off to a 7-0 start. The Panthers will look to keep on the winning track when they play at Ranney School on April 23.

Linville Going Into Overdrive in Final Season Helping PDS Girls’ Race Past the Opposition

Bill Alden

A frequent refrain on the sideline this spring for the Princeton Day School girls’ lacrosse team has been “wheels, wheels.”

PDS head coach Jill Thomas bellows the instruction at her players as she urges them to race up the field and go on attack.

Senior star Cammie Linville has been taking those words to heart, going into overdrive with her speed and tenacity as the Panthers have powered to a 7-0 start.

Last Thursday, Linville and her teammates turned on the jets as they rallied from an early 4-1 deficit at Lawrenceville to pound the Big Red 17-11.

In reflecting on the win, Linville acknowledged that falling behind provided PDS with a major challenge.

“I think we were all pretty tired from a rough game against Pingry two days ago,” said Linville.

“We came out a little frazzled; it was our first away game so I don’t think we were really quite used to it. We took that timeout, it was a good call by Coach Thomas. We took a deep breath and it was like we can do this, we are not a team to be down by this. I think we came back on a 5-1 run.”

Linville tallied two goals after the timeout as PDS went on a 9-2 run to build a 10-6 lead by halftime.

In the second half, Lawrenceville scored in the first minute to narrow the gap to three. But with Linville catching fire again with two goals, PDS went on a 4-0 run to break the game open.

While Lawrenceville never got closer than five, Linville and her teammates knew they had to keep their feet on the gas.

“It was definitely a battle the entire game, even to the last minute,” said Linville, who had a total of five goals and one assist in the win with classmate Mariel Jenkins notching six goals.

“It was never really over. They put in a good fight and kept us working until the end. The team really pulled through.”

In Linville’s view, the experience PDS gained last year as it went 11-7 and had its share of ups and downs has helped make the team formidable this spring.

“Last year was a growth year; I think we had six freshmen starting and the best thing is that freshmen become sophomores,” said Linville.

“We are a lot older this year so it is a lot less frantic. People aren’t panicking with the ball; they are making smarter decisions and realizing what the right pass is.”

The team’s cool-headed play has resulted in a balanced attack which has seen such players as Carly O’Brien, Jacqui Stevens, Sydney Jenkins, and Allison Sorrentino help share the scoring load with Linville and Mariel Jenkins.

“Last year, it was pretty obvious from the box scores that it was either Mariel, Hannah Epstein, or me that was doing the scoring,” said Linville, who has a team-high 33 points on 23 goals and 10 assists.

“Checking the box score now, I think it is like five or six people a game, it must be difficult for the other teams to pick out who to mark.”

It has been a bit difficult for the Lafayette-bound Linville to come to terms with the impending end of her PDS career which also saw her star for the girls’ soccer team.

“It is definitely bittersweet, I am very excited to be leading the team along with Mariel and the other seniors,” said Linville, who had a hat trick in PDS’s 12-2 win over Pennington last Friday, notching her 100th career goal in the process.

“It’s just sad to know that every game that is played, it’s one less playing for PDS.”

PDS head coach Thomas certainly isn’t sad to see how Linville is playing in her final campaign for PDS.

“Cammie is just playing her best lacrosse,” said a grinning Thomas.

“I tell them time and time again, there is nothing like playing when you are a senior. We ask her to play all 100 yards of this field, to be in the midfield, to lead the attack, to be on the defense and mark a tough player. She sprints up and down that field every minute of every game.”

While Thomas is impressed by Linville’s on-field exploits, she is more excited by how her senior star has grown as a leader.

“She has figured out that we as a group are going to accomplish a whole lot more than she is or any one person,” asserted Thomas. “She has really worked hard to develop the team chemistry that we need.”

The Panthers’ chemistry helped it hold off a determined Lawrenceville squad.

“We are in a position now where we have to expect everyone to play their best against us,” said Thomas.

“We handled it today, we settled. The kids who were freshmen last year who are sophomores this year stepped it up. They gathered themselves, they came through when it mattered.”

With PDS having come up short in Prep A and Mercer County Tournament title games over the last few years, Thomas is hoping this year’s squad can come through when it matters most.

“We have to keep our feet on the ground and take them one at a time,” said Thomas, whose team plays at Ranney School on April 23.

“We have the same goals that we have every year in the Prep A and Mercer County Tournament. We have got to play all these games along the way and keep getting better and not settle. We can’t settle.”

Linville, for her part, isn’t about to settle for more second place finishes in her finale.

“The seniors sat with coach Thomas and Liz [assistant coach Liz Cook] at the beginning of the season and set goals about what we want to do individually and as a team,” recalled Linville.

“Obviously we want to make it back to those finals and get some revenge. I think I have been in four finals and I want to win one.”

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