Princeton victorious over Hightstown
PRINCETON » Sebastian Ratzan found out Thursday how change can be good.
The junior midfielder, who started Princeton High’s boys soccer game with Hightstown on the left side of the pitch, switched over to the right side when senior teammate Harry Malady got injured 10 minutes into the contest.
What would seem the simplest of moves proved crucial for the Little Tigers as Ratzan ended up taking part in three Princeton goals before halftime as the home team went on to win, 3-1.
The victory was key in the fight for the Colonial Valley Conference Colonial Division. Coach Wayne Sutcliffe’s Little Tigers (6-1-1 overall) are 2-0-1 in the Colonial with one divisional game (at second-place Trenton Oct. 12) remaining.
Coach George Wolkiewicz’ much-improved Rams (5-2-2 overall) are only 0-1-1 in division play, but still have two more Colonial home games versus Notre Dame (Oct. 4) and West WindsorPlainsboro South (Oct. 12) in which to make a run at the title.
“I think I was moved over there because Harry went down,” Ratzan said. “I was happy to contribute because their left back was on me. He gave me a good battle all game.”
Though he’d been on the varsity in the past when his older brother, Alex, was making things happen for Princeton, Sebastian Ratzan has been making a name for himself this season. He entered the game with a goal and a team-leading four assists.
Ratzan came up big again in one of the Little Tigers’ first key league matchups of the season.
“We came out for this game with a lot of intensity,” Ratzan said. “We knew that if we wanted to win the CVC, which we do, we had to come out and do our stuff versus this tough team.”
Ratzan started his team’s big day by helping set up senior leading scorer Andrew Beamer, along with senior midfielder Noah Middlekauff, for the game’s first goal 13 minutes in.
Four minutes later, Ratzan was in the right place at the right time when Dean Patel sent a shot on goal which Hightstown goalkeeper Jacob Forst knocked away. Ratzan slid in unmarked to knock in the rebound and give the home side a 2-0 jump before the game even reached the midway point of the first half.
“It was tough for us at the beginning while we were trying to get used to the way they played,” Rams senior midfielder Christian Contreras said.
Things got tougher on the visitors with just under 15 minutes left in the first half when Ratzan led Beamer for his second score of the game (10th overall).
Five minutes later, however, Contreras converted a penalty kick to get Hightstown on the board.
“We’re still learning,” said Contreras, who returned to play for the Rams after three years with his Philadelphia Union academy team. “At halftime, we talked about how we needed to be more compact as a defensive unit. We implemented it in the second half. I thought we had more chances in the second half.”