(Photo by Frank Wojciechowski) MURPHY’S LAW: Princeton Day School boys’ soccer head coach Malcolm Murphy focuses on the action in a game this fall. Murphy guided PDS to a 17-2-2 record this season as the Panthers accomplished a rare title double, winning the Mercer County Tournament and the state Prep B tourney.

PHS Runner Smart, PDS Soccer Star Smukler Get Nod as Town Topics’ Top Fall Performers

Bill Alden

In the fall of 2009, Zaid Smart didn’t seem to be on the path to doing great things for Princeton High boys’ cross country team. Smart started his junior campaign running in the middle of the PHS pack, noted more for his amiable personality than his running prowess.

But after surprising himself with some good results, Smart realized he could be something special as a runner.

“I ran one race faster last year than I usually did and I started thinking can I keep on going and going,” recalled Smart.

“Last year, I was trying to discover what kind of runner I was and how fast I could really go.”

Once he got a sense of his speed, Smart emerged as one of the top runners on the 2009 Little Tiger squad, placing 15th in the Mercer County Championship meet, ninth in the Central Jersey Group III sectional meet, and 23rd in the Group III state championship meet.

This fall, Smart became the unquestioned frontrunner for PHS and produced one of the finer individual seasons in program history.

Smart didn’t waste any time showing his improvement, posting two early-season dual meet wins.

In the county meet, Smart placed seventh overall to help PHS take third in the team standings.

For PHS head coach John Woodside, Smart’s effort reflected the senior star’s role as the team’s main man.

“Zaid is a guy who has really come into his own; we hope he is just getting started,” said Woodside. “He is giving us an anchor at the top of the lineup.”

In the sectional meet, Smart took third to spark PHS to a second place finish in the team standings.

A week later in the state Group III meet, things didn’t look good for Smart early as he struggled in the opening half mile.

“Zaid got off to a slow start; he is usually good at the start and in getting his position in the race,” said Woodside. “He was in 33d place after they came out of the woods at the half-mile mark.”

But the PHS frontrunner was able to fight through the pack, pulling himself up to ninth place by the end of the 3.1 mile race.

“He got his stuff together and didn’t panic; he started passing runner after runner,” recalled Woodside of Smart, who ended up posting a time of 16:24. “I don’t think I have ever seen anyone come back like that.”

Smart’s Herculean effort helped him qualify for the Meet of Champions, the apex of New Jersey running. Culminating his superb season in style, Smart placed 37th in the star-studded field of 181.

Reflecting on his meteoric rise, Smart is proud of what he has accomplished and believes he has only scratched the surface.

“That still makes me happy; I am still really excited about that,” said Smart, who has also emerged as a star on the track at the 1,600 and 3,200 and plans to compete in college. “I plan to do even better in track season to keep on getting faster.”

For his unlikely rise from the middle of the pack to one of the best runners in PHS history, Smart is the pick as the Town Topics top male performer of the fall high school season.

Top Female Performer

Coming into this fall, the Princeton Day girls’ soccer team boasted a battle-tested core of nine seniors.

But PDS head coach Pat Trombetta turned to the squad’s lone junior, Janie Smukler, to trigger the offense.

“At the beginning of the year, I told Janie to take more control of the offense,” said Trombetta. “She started to become more unselfish as the year went on.”

The soft-spoken but intensely competitive Smukler was ready to be more of a leader for the Panthers.

“Since I am older now and the only junior on the team, I definitely have more of a leadership role on this team,” said Smukler. “That is new for me.” When the chips were down this fall, the gifted Smukler took matters into her own feet, scoring one key goal after another for the Panthers. During regular season play, she scored the game-winner in one-goal wins over Hun, Hill, and Lawrence.

In the state Prep B tournament, Smukler displayed her versatility and skill. In a 4-0 win over Montclair Kimberley in the semis, Smukler assumed the playmaker role, getting two assists. In the title game, Smukler saved her best for last, tallying two goals and two assists as the top-seeded Panthers cruised to a 4-0 victory over Wardlaw Hartridge.

Trombetta credited Smukler with providing skill and grit for the Panthers.

“Janie is great with the ball on her feet; she is just strong with the ball,” asserted Trombetta, whose team went 13-5-1 in winning its second prep B title in the last three years. “She is relentless.”

While Smukler had some doubts in the beginning of the fall, things fell into place.

“We lost four or five seniors and we came into this year kind of afraid that we weren’t going to be as strong as we were last year,” said Smukler, who ended up with 21 goals on the season. “We have been doing pretty well; we are looking pretty strong.”

Smukler’s skill and competitive fire earns her the nod as the top female performer of the fall season.

Top Newcomers

Marius Seager didn’t come up through the local club system in preparing to play for the Princeton High boys’ soccer team.

Instead, Seager learned the game in his native France before coming to Princeton in the fall of 2009.

As PHS made its undefeated state tournament run last fall, Seager bided his team on the junior varsity, acclimating to his new team.

This fall, Seager moved up to the PHS varsity and made an immediate impact. The senior defender scored a golden goal in a 2-1 overtime win against Nottingham in the season opener.

As the season went on, Seager proved invaluable to PHS, playing solid defense and showing offensive flair as the Little Tigers posted a 12-0-1 regular season record.

While PHS ended up losing 1-0 to Princeton Day School in the Mercer County Tournament title game to see a 41-game unbeaten streak come to an end and falling by the same score to Hopewell Valley in the sectional quarterfinals, Little Tiger head coach Wayne Sutcliffe was proud of the soccer produced by Seager and his teammates.

“I felt this season was a great accomplishment, especially for our seniors who came back from last season and for all of the younger guys,” asserted Sutcliffe.

“It was a great rebound from last year; it was not easy to follow last year. It was a great season and a great run. I am so proud of all of my guys. The seniors have a lot to look back on. I thought overall we played our best soccer; I didn’t see a team that I thought could match us in terms of the game all season long,”

For coming on the scene and playing a key role in helping PHS produce that brand of soccer, Seager is the choice as the top male newcomer of the fall.

In recent years, the Hun School field hockey team has shown a penchant for starting slowly and then finishing with a rush.

Predictably, the Raiders struggled in the early going this fall as they dropped three of their first four games.

With the team needing better finishing, sophomore transfer Carey Million stepped up for the Raiders. The athletic Million, who came to Hun from Florence, scored several clutch goals as the Raiders caught fire.

Million’s offensive prowess helped the 10th-seeded Raiders upset No. 7 Hightstown and second-seeded Princeton Day School on the way to the Mercer County Tournament semis against No. 3 Robbinsville. While Million picked up an assist in that encounter, it wasn’t enough as Hun fell 2-1.

Million ended up with eight goals and four assists and made a big impression on Hun head coach Kathy Quirk.

“Carey is a nice post player; she is quick on the field and she sees the field,” said Quirk.

Million’s athleticism and finishing touch makes her the choice as the top female newcomer of the fall.

Top Coaches

In 2008, the Princeton Day School boys’ soccer team struggled to a 7-12-1 record, taking its lumps as a large group of sophomores got their first taste of varsity competition.

Last fall, the team’s Class of 2011 showed signs of improvement as the Panthers went 11-8-1.

Coming into the 2010 campaign, PDS head coach Malcolm Murphy was expecting big things from that group.

“They have got the expectancy level; they want to try and do well together,” said Murphy, referring to his nine seniors which include Max Hoppenot, Kevin Francfort, Justin Ward, Dane Carberry, Hugo Meggitt, Will Powers, Peter Blackburn, Skye Samse, and Rob Smukler.

“We have got a big graduating class and that does help. We play some massive hard games; I don’t think there is anybody easy. If we want to win games, then you treat them all the same.”

With the tactically shrewd and sometimes caustic Murphy driving the team in the accent of his native England, the Panthers started piling up the wins.

After a 10-2-2 regular season, PDS was seeded second in the Mercer County Tournament and first in the state Prep B tourney.

In the MCT, PDS topped Ewing 3-0, HoVal 2-1 and WW/P-N 3-0 to set up a title game clash with undefeated and three-time county champ Princeton High which came into the contest riding a 41-game unbeaten streak.

Emboldened by a 1-1 tie with PHS in a regular season encounter, PDS gave no quarter in the rematch and the teams were knotted in a scoreless tie at the end of regulation. One of the PDS seniors, Meggitt, struck in overtime, blasting a Rui Pinheiro cross into the net to give the Panthers a 1-0 win and their first county crown since 1983.

“They got some efforts off but there was nothing in the box,” said Murphy, reflecting on the win over PHS. “We cleared a couple off the line. You make your own luck in the game of soccer. If you are in the right spot at the right time on the line, then you stop them. We worked hard behind the ball. We don’t have the speed on the flanks but we are determined. We have good tactics with a good attitude.”

In the Prep B tourney, the Panthers kept up their good work, topping Rutgers Prep 3-0 in the quarters and edging Newark Academy 2-1 in overtime in the semis.

During pregame warmup before the title game against Gill St. Bernard’s starting goalie Jacob Eisenberg went down with a broken finger and was unable to play.

Holding his club together, Murphy guided the Panthers to a nerve-wracking 2-1 win and the title double his seniors would have had trouble imagining in the fall of 2008.

In Murphy’s view, the title double help put PDS on the map. “We are pretty excited for that, we hope it translates into soccer players looking at the program and selecting us,” asserted Murphy, whose team ended the fall with a 17-2-2 record.

“It is a great academic school and hopefully the soccer player and anyone who plays sports will see that we are pushing the program in athletics too.”

For pushing the right buttons as PDS accomplished a season for the ages, Murphy is the pick as the top coach of a male team.

At first glance, the Princeton High girls’ cross country team does not appear that imposing.

“If you look at the team, it is not super toned or the most physically gifted,” said PHS head coach Jim Smirk.

The Little Tigers didn’t get off to the greatest start, falling to WW/P-S and Robbinsville in dual meet competition.

But as PHS looked ahead to postseason competition, Smirk saw something special in his runners. “It is a group of girls that is starting to get it; they see what they can do as a team and how to make moves as a team,” said Smirk.

“I think what is working for us is getting focus. Knowing that when we need to go hard, we have to really push it and then on easy days, we need to just bond and not race each other. They are starting to figure it out.”

With junior star Jenna Cody leading the way, the Little Tigers raced well in the Mercer County Championships, taking third.

In the Group III Central Jersey sectional meet, PHS took a major step forward, winning the title as it edged runner-up Middletown South by seven points. “We had a lot of really impressive performances in the race,” said Smirk. “Jenna Cody, in the last mile, was just lights out. She is traditionally not a come from behind runner. Chrissy Glover and Maggie Sowa both finished in the top 10.”

The Little Tigers built on that effort by nearly taking the state Group III title as they placed second, a mere two points behind champion West Morris Mendham.

“When I look back at this team, five years from now, the biggest lesson I will have learned is the power of commitment,” said Smirk, whose team qualified for the Meet of Champions for the first time since 2002.

“Their greatest talent is how hard they work as a team. They are committed to get it done; they trained hard everyday. On days when they were tired or it was cold and rainy, they showed the same level of intensity as they show in races.”

Smirk’s ability to inspire that commitment to excellence makes him the top coach of a female team.

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