(Photo by Bill Allen/NJ SportAction) caption: ON THE REBOUND: Princeton Day School senior star Erin Burns moves the ball up the field in recent action. Burns’ move to offense from defense has given PDS a major lift as the Panthers rebounded from a 0-5 start to go 7-3-1 in its next 11 games. Burns and junior Allison Sorrentino are tied for the team lead in scoring with nine goals and three assists apiece. In upcoming action, fifth-seeded PDS will play in the state Prep quarterfinals on October 26.

Senior Standout Burns Turns Offensive as PDS Field Hockey Gets on Right Track

Bill Alden

Erin Burns started this season content to be out of the spotlight for the Princeton Day School field hockey team, doing the dirty work along the back line.

The soft-spoken Burns, who started playing the game last year as a junior, had used her endurance and athleticism to make herself into a key defender for the Panthers.

But when PDS struggled to a 0-5 start this fall, Burns was thrust into the limelight as she was moved up to attack to help jump-start the Panther offense.

It hasn’t taken long for Burns to make noise in her new role, piling up goals as PDS has gone 7-3-1 since its rough start.

Burns acknowledged that it took her a while to adjust to her new role. “I’ve never played offense before in any sport,” said Burns, who also stars for the PDS girls’ lacrosse team.

“It was hard at first but it has been really fun. My teammates made it easy for me. The other forwards are so good; they work the ball really well; all I have to do is shoot the ball.”

Last week, Burns displayed how well she has made the transition, accounting for a goal and an assist in PDS’ 5-1 win over South Hunterdon on October 16 and then assisting on Allison Sorrentino’s goal in the Panthers’ 1-0 win over Hun a day later.

On Friday, PDS made a valiant effort in the first round of the Mercer County Tournament, falling 3-2 to Hopewell Valley less than a week after getting blanked 3-0 by the Bulldogs.

In assessing PDS’ turnaround, Burns said the team’s improvement has resulted from a more intense mentality.

“We were 0-5; we definitely needed to change some things,” said Burns, who is tied for the team lead in scoring with Sorrentino who each have nine goals and three assists. “We came in with a new attitude about winning and putting it all on the line in the game rather than just playing to defend.”

That attitude was on display in the South Hunterdon game as PDS never took its foot off the gas even after it built a 2-0 halftime lead.

“I think we came in ready to win the game; we were pretty excited,” said Burns.

“We worked a lot in practice on getting the ball right offensively. We worked on our transition and keeping our teamwork together.”

PDS head coach Jill Thomas has been excited by Burns’ work up front.“Erin has made a big difference,” said Thomas, who earned the 200th win of her tenure guiding the PDS field hockey program with the win over South Hunterdon.

“She can run all day long. She’s back in the circle, she’s getting the ball out on defense; she’s in terrific shape. She’s doing all the right things. She has wonderful hand-eye coordination. You watch her; she has an uncanny sense of where the ball is coming from.”

Thomas acknowledged that her players collectively had to adjust to new roles in the wake of the graduation of Katie Briody and the Crouse twins, Allie and Nina.

“You look at who we graduated; they had to step up and understand that they had to work hard to go get the ball,” explained Thomas.

“We had to come up with an identity and become a team. The kids that came before them had to work hard too to find an identity. It’s a learning curve.”

With the state Prep tourney on the horizon, PDS is looking to keep learning.

“We’ve got to keep moving forward,” asserted Thomas, whose team was seeded fifth in the Prep tourney and has a bye into the quarterfinal which is slated for October 26.

“We can’t stagnate and have a bad half. It’s got to be full intensity. You have to play as if it’s your last game and maybe then it won’t be.”

Burns, for her part, believes the team can keep making progress. “I think what we need to do is to work on our offense and defense both together,” said Burns.

“We need to work on our passes up the field but we’ve gotten a lot better at working around the goal.”

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