TIME TO CELEBRATE: Princeton Day School girls’ soccer star Damali Simon-Ponte celebrates after a goal in a game earlier this fall. Last week, sophomore star Simon-Ponte scored the winning goal as PDS edged Hun 2-1 in a battle of defending state prep champions. The Panthers, who topped Montgomery 1-0 last Monday to improve to 3-0-1, host Peddie on September 24, play at Blair Academy on September 26, and host Hamilton on September 28. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

It was a clash of defending state prep champions last week as the Princeton Day School girls’ soccer team, the 2014 Prep B victor, hosted the Hun School, the winner of last year’s Prep A tournament.

Having tied the George School (Pa.) 3-3 in its season opener, PDS knew it had to step up at both ends of the field against its crosstown rival.

“We definitely tried to come out really strong on them,” said PDS sophomore newcomer Damali Simon-Ponte, a transfer from South Brunswick High.

“Our defender Maddie Coyne in the back made sure we kept tight on their big forwards.”

Coming out hard, PDS took a 1-0 lead on a goal by Allison Klei with 3:09 remaining in the first half. But Hun responded with a tally by Addy Gray two minutes later and the teams headed into halftime locked in a 1-1 stalemate.

During the break, the youthful PDS squad, which includes five sophomores and nine freshmen, got a quick tutorial from head coach Pat Trombetta.

“Our coach gave different players pointers on what to do and how to attack right away,” recalled Simon-Ponte.

“We have  a couple of young players on the field so we definitely stepped up our game.”

With just over 17 minutes remaining in regulation, forward Simon-Ponte stepped up big time, getting loose on the wing and blasting a volley into the back of the net.

“Their back line thought I was offsides; they underestimated how fast I was going,” said Simon-Ponte.

“I never stopped, I didn’t look back at the ref, I just kept going until the ref blew the whistle and he didn’t.”

The Panthers never looked back from there as a stingy defense thwarted Hun to preserve a 2-1 victory.

Simon-Ponte, for her part, believes that PDS can keep rising to the occasion.

“We have a lot of hard teams coming up so I think we are ready for them,” said Simon-Ponte.

PDS head coach Trombetta wasn’t surprised that his team had to fight hard to overcome Hun.

“You can see it is early season, it is not the prettiest soccer out there but it is a battle,” said Trombetta.

“Every time we play this game it is usually a one goal game. If you look at the last 10 years, I would say nine times, the game ended in a one-goal differential.”

Trombetta smiled as he assessed the goal by Simon-Ponte that ended up making the difference in the contest.

“Damali is a threat and that winning goal was a beauty,” said Trombetta. “She was set up with a ball down the line, she made a beautiful run and finished with her left foot, it wasn’t the best angle but she found the back of the net.”

Trombetta liked the way his back line handled the challenge of defending a dangerous Hun squad.

“It has been musical chairs for us in the back four; we have tried players but I think we are going to settle in with the two center backs that we had here, Maddie Coyne and Rebecca Kuzmicz,” said Trombetta.

“They did a great job sitting back there and defending, they had their moments. Hun put us under pressure; we bent a little but we didn’t break. These two center backs did a standup job. Then you have a girl playing left back Emily Simon, who never played back there before. She is a little warrior, she is always going in for tackles and coming up big for us on the defensive end as well.”

In Trombetta’s view, the performance against Hun portends some big things to come this fall for the Panthers.

“I think things are going to come together for the team over time,” said Trombetta, whose team topped Montgomery 1-0 last Monday to improve to 3-0-1 and hosts Peddie on September 24, plays at Blair Academy on September 26, and hosts Hamilton on September 28. “This is a good game, this is a nice game to get on your resume.”

Simon-Ponte, for her part, is enjoying being a part of the PDS team. “I heard they were a really good soccer team and the school was a great academic school,” said Simon-Ponte, reflecting on her move to the school. “The girls are great, from the goalkeeper to everybody.”