Notre Dame pulls away from Princeton in quarterfinals
PRINCETON » Good teams generally don’t materialize without some adversity and soul-searching. Ebbs and flows consume the development of a high school sports program, and how athletes and coaches respond in the long haul charts their destiny.
For the Notre Dame boys lacrosse team, Saturday’s 11-5 win over Princeton in the Mercer County Tournament quarterfinals was a symbol of how far these Irish have come.
Coming into the season, they had high hopes with one of the deepest talent pools in the CVC. But they were largely untested and unproven, and midseason kinks funneled into a 3-6 losing record.
That was when a recent team meeting set the tone for the remainder of the year.
“We literally just talked to everybody after practice,” junior attackman Joey Lippincott recalled. “We said, ‘We’re done losing. We just want to win, and there’s no reason for us not to with the amount of the talent we have.’
“I know we’re a young team, all juniors starting lineup. It’s just, we work well together now. We’re just getting the chemistry down.”
Notre Dame (7-7) has since won four of its last five games, including two in the postseason to reach Tuesday’s county semifinals at Hopewell.
Against fourth-seeded Princeton (5-9), the fifth-seeded Irish again flipped a switch in a game that began competitive but ended up being one of Notre Dame’s best all-around team performances.
After the teams traded two goals apiece in the opening four minutes, the contest reached an extended stalemate until Notre Dame broke through with three quick goals in the second quarter.
Attackman Erik Henig assisted Lippincott on a counter in transition to give the Irish a 3-2 lead with 7:35 left in the first half. That started an extended 8-1 run stretching until the 9:56 mark of the fourth quarter.
“Erik got down, fast break, and I saw like three guys slide to him, so I just sat on the crease and waited for it,” Lippincott said. “I saw the one kid fall to my left after they collapsed, and then he tossed it to me and I dumped it in. As soon as I dumped it, I got hit like a steamroller. My mouth guard fell out and everything.”
Lippincott and Henig both scored three goals, while midfielders Dean Szatkowski and Pat Larkin each netted two. Ryan Wood tallied the other goal.
“We recognized kind of that they were trying to force us into our offense when we weren’t ready,” Notre Dame coach Michael Andersen said. “We were just kind of staying stern with that and not us letting the pressure that Princeton’s good defenders put on us, and just spread out. We ran through our offense, and a couple of transition goals helped, too, from Dean at the X.”
Lippincott added three assists for a game-high six points. Szatkowski won 13 of 20 faceoffs and scooped seven groundballs.
Those two teamed up for the highlight of the game in the fourth quarter. Lippincott fired a pass from behind the net and Szatkowski finished it with a shot behind his back at a tough angle.
“He’s done it before and he’s scored, but I figured it wouldn’t be that nice,” Lippincott said with a laugh. “He works on it all the time. Not really suggested, but he takes it when he has it.”
Evan Filion and Alex Park netted two goals apiece for Princeton, which will now await its seeding in the upcoming NJSIAA North Jersey Group III Tournament.
Despite two late goals, the Little Tigers had few answers for Notre Dame’s stifling defense featuring Liam Smith, Tristan Tritt and Hunter Tilton. Goalie Daniel Brady dominated in net with 18 saves.
“The defense took their lumps last year,” Andersen said. “We had one senior, Zach Henig. With him going down we had five sophomores ... and they all got some experience and it leads to now. Which is why I think there was a lot of disconnect with our offense (early on). Because we were senior-heavy on offense last year, they didn’t take their lumps — the young guys.”
Next up for Notre Dame is top-seeded Hightstown (14-1), a 12-4 winner over Allentown in one of the other quarterfinals played Saturday.
No local team has beaten the Rams this year, but the Irish came the closest in a 7-3 loss on April 14. Their offense has made major strides since then.
“I believe in them,” Andersen said. “Hey, why not now? They’ve got seniors, but we’ve got juniors. Does it matter? Let’s just put the best teams out on the field, roll the ball out and see who comes out.”
Added Lippincott, “We’re coming in as fast, as hard as we can.”
NotreDame (7-7) Princeton (5-9) Goals —
Lippincott 3, Henig 3, Larkin 2, Szatkowski 2, Wood (ND), Filion 2, Park 2, Westerman (P).
Lippincott 3, Henig, Larkin, Okupski (ND), Filion (P).
29 (ND), 18 (P).
Brady 18, Dowgin (ND), O’Donnell
Assists — Shots — Saves — 2 2 3 0 4 1 2 — 2 — 11 5