(Photo by Frank Wojciechowski) caption: CREASE CONTROL: Princeton Day School girls’ lacrosse senior goalie Jess Frieder patrols the crease in recent action. Dartmouth bound Frieder made nine saves last Thursday to help PDS top Lawrenceville 14-4 as it won its sixth game in a row and improved to 7-2. The Panthers will look to keep on the winning track when they host Moorestown Friends on April 28.

Goalie Frieder Exuding Confidence, Toughness As PDS Girls’ Lacrosse Surges Into Homestretch

Bill Alden

Confident, strong, and tough. Those are the words that Jill Thomas hollered repeatedly at her players on the Princeton Day School girls’ lacrosse team last Thursday as it hosted Lawrenceville.

Those three words also describe the performance PDS head coach Thomas got from senior goalie Jess Frieder as she stifled the high-scoring Big Red.

The Dartmouth bound Frieder made nine saves and broke up several plays around the crease as PDS pulled away to a 14-4 win over Lawrenceville.

In reflecting on the win, Frieder saw it as evidence of the team’s improvement on the defensive end.

“We do have a young defense this year but I think our experience in the midfield and offense helps us because we have a lot of girls going full field,” said Frieder.

“We have definitely learned to make those slides. We are working together as a unit. There is not one girl who I can’t rely on to get that big ground ball or make that big interception.”

Frieder and the Panthers are relying on two of her classmates, Emily Jaeckel and Katie Gibson, to spearhead the defense.

“Emily has stepped up big this year; it is great having another senior back there,” added Frieder.

“She has improved tremendously this year; I can’t say enough about her. We rely on Katie a lot. She is a great defender, a great midfielder, and a great attacker. She is the backbone of our defense.”

As a four-year starter, Frieder calls the shots on the PDS defense. “I feel as a senior captain back there, I need to be able to direct them and worry about the ball,” said Frieder.

“I also need to do my position well. I am playing outside the crease more because that is a big part of college play and I will be doing that next year.”

Inside the crease, Frieder was sharp in the win over the Big Red, recording several point-blank saves.

“I got my rhythm going,” recalled Frieder. “I build upon each save that I make and each ground ball I get. I keep building on that and the momentum going forward.”

After losing to Peddie and Hopewell Valley in the first week of the season, the Panthers are building some momentum as they head into the home stretch of the season.

“Those losses definitely hurt us; it was a learning experience and we have managed to come back,” said Frieder.

“We are standing at 7-2 right now and we couldn’t be happier. Beating Lawrenceville and Hun (a 15-9 win on April 19) were great wins for us, those are good rivals. We lost to Lawrenceville last year; to 10-goal them after last year was a great feeling.”

PDS coach Thomas was thrilled with the great defensive effort she got in the win over the Big Red.

“We pride ourselves on good defense and they came to play today; we have been working really hard on it,” said a grinning Thomas.

You have Katie [Gibson], Jacqui [Stevens], Hannah [Levy], Emily [Jaeckel], and Zeeza [Cole]; they have set a standard. They have got this idea that they are going to outwork the other teams all over the field.”

As usual, PDS got good work in the cage from Frieder. “We call them collegiate saves now; she has the best part of her high school to finish but that’s what we call them,” added Thomas.

“Those are the saves that she is going to be making next year. We have really worked on her coming out and being the defender that we need when there is a man-up situation.”

The two-way play of Gibson has been uplifting for the Panthers. “I think we are establishing ourselves as a team,” said Thomas.

“For a long time it was 19 [Carly O’Brien] and then it was No. 7 [Stevens] and then it was No. 5 [Andrea Jenkins] and then it was 12 [Gibson] and 11 [Levy]. The more people that are putting the ball in the net, the harder we are to play. Katie is a member of that. She is really the general on defense; that is her No. 1 job.”

Thomas likes the way her team has been getting the job done in recent weeks as it has rebounded from the early setbacks to Peddie and HoVal.

“I always look at losses as either you got beat by a better team or you learned something from it,” said Thomas, whose team stretched its winning streak to six with the victory over Lawrenceville and hosts Moorestown Friends on April 28.

“I think it was a combination of the two. Those are both good teams and when they played us, they were better on that day. Hopefully, we have learned something from it.”

Frieder knows she will be learning a lot next year at Dartmouth. “The minute I stepped on the campus, I fell in love with it,” said Frieder, reflecting on her decision to go to Dartmouth.

“I went to their camp going into my junior year and I met the girls. The coaches are fantastic. Amy Patton has been there forever. She has had great experience with goalies; she has had Devin Wills and Julie Wadland on the national team.”

In the meantime, Frieder is looking to have a great experience in her final campaign at PDS.

“Having 10 seniors on the team is so much fun; the makeup of the team is great,” said Frieder. “Our practices are fun but serious. We just get along so well.”

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