(Photo by Bill Allen/NJ SportAction) MURPHY’S LAW: Princeton Day School boys’ soccer head coach Malcolm Murphy surveys the action in a game last fall. Murphy has his club off to a hot start as PDS improved to 3-0 with a 2-1 win over Montgomery last Monday. In upcoming action, PDS plays at the Lawrenceville School on September 23, hosts Hamilton on September 25, and then plays at the Solebury School on September 27.

Senior Striker Ward Showing Leadership As PDS Boys’ Soccer Produces Hot Start

Bill Alden

Justin Ward has provided plenty of offense for the Princeton Day School boys’ soccer team over the last few years.

In 2009, the lanky striker was one of the most potent scorers in the area, tallying 22 goals.

But coming into his senior season, Ward knew that he needed to provide more than goal production for the Panthers. “As a senior captain, I am trying to push everyone to work hard,” said Ward.

“We have got a lot of seniors this year and we know it is our last season. We want to have a successful season.”

Last Thursday as PDS hosted Prep A squad Peddie, Ward pushed the action for the Panthers. In the first half, Ward was all over the field, nearly scoring as he smashed a volley off the post.

With the teams knotted in a scoreless draw at half, Ward and his teammates knew they were on the right track.

“We just needed to keep up the hard work; we were in the game the entire time,” said Ward. “We needed to keep our heads up and keep plugging away and we’ll get one.”

Some 11 minutes into the second half, Ward got one for PDS as he slotted in a low screamer past the Peddie keeper.

“We got it up from the back and had some passes through the midfield,” said Ward, recalling the build-up to the goal. “Robby [Smukler] made a great touch on it and then I just followed up on it and shot it and it went in.”

Ward’s score proved to be the difference as PDS held on for a 1-0 win over the Falcons.

The one-two punch of Ward and Smukler (18 goals in 2009) is a key plus for the Panthers. “We have played together for four years now so we know each other pretty well now,” said Ward, who scored the game-winning goal last Monday as PDS edged Montgomery 2-1 to improve to 3-0 on the season. “It’s a good combo up there.”

PDS head coach Malcolm Murphy likes the way Ward has picked up his leadership.

“We knew that he could play; we just wanted to see if there is anything advantageous that we could help him with so we sat him down with the coaching staff,” said Murphy. “We came up with the plan that if we gave him a captaincy, he would have to mature overnight.”

In Murphy’s view, Ward’s game has matured on several levels. “Justin certainly brings a better dimension to us this year because he is prepared to work harder at the top,” said Murphy.

“We worked on some tactics. Sometimes we’ll keep the ball and other times we will release him as early as we can to try to mix the game up. If we can keep him healthy and fit and keep his psychology tucked into the game, I think he has a good chance for some honors this year.”

Murphy likes the good work he is getting from his back four. “We have been working on the posture of the back four on the line,” said Murphy, whose corps of defenders features juniors Paul Zetterberg and Connor Gibson together with seniors Kevin Francfort and Will Powers.

“We have done better than we have ever done this year. We came back with a lot of players so we didn’t have to keep having to go over different things. We spent a lot more time on keeping our shape in the games. It’s paying dividends.”

The Panthers are also
enjoying the dividends from having a battle tested goalie as junior Jacob Eisenberg made some key saves in the win over Peddie on the way to posting his second straight shutout.

“It was brilliant,” said Murphy in assessing Eisenberg’s performance. “If it hadn’t been for that one brilliant stop near the end, we could have been fighting for another 30 minutes of soccer.”

With a group of nine seniors, Murphy is expecting a lot of good soccer this fall from his club. “They have got the expectancy level; they want to try and do well together,” said Murphy, whose team plays at the Lawrenceville School on September 23, hosts Hamilton on September 25, and then plays at the Solebury School on September 27.

“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.”

Ward, for his part, believes PDS can do very well this fall. “It is exciting; if we keep getting shutouts like this, we can win a lot of games,” said Ward. “We really want to push for some kind of title this year and we know we have the team to do it.”

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