CVC and Prep season previews inside
Nobody was hit harder by development academy soccer more than Princeton Day School coach Pat Trombetta.
A year after clinching a share of the Prep B title and narrowly losing out to Hopewell Valley the Mercer County Tournament final, Trombetta lost three players to the new academy system put in place by the U.S. Soccer Federation.
All-Area goalkeeper Grace Barbara, a Princeton University commit, and Madison McCaw, a Columbia commit, both joined Sky BluePDA club and won’t play high school soccer this season.
Top scorer Damali Simon -Ponte also linked up with the academy ranks.
“We’ll look to overcome significant losses due to graduation and the soccer academy,” Trombetta said. “A number of young players will be asked to step up and fill the void with only two returning seniors on the roster and a challenging schedule ahead of them.”
On the bright side, the Panthers, who went 16-1-3 and conceded just seven goals all season, return senior center backs Madison Coyne, a George Washington commit, and the bruising Rebecca Kuzmicz.
Meanwhile, at Pennington Dr. Bill Hawkey and Pat Murphy expect their side to be back on top of Prep A and the county following a 15-1-2 season that still ended without hardware.
“This team has a lot of potential, and a lot of strong leadership that is blending well with the talented newcomers,” Murphy said. “There is a strong sense of excitement with the group.”
Murphy succinctly summarized what is required for success.
“Must score goals,” he said.
Peddie, a surprise MAPL champion a season ago, made major strikes under coach Matthew Roach, who has his Falcons angling for a repeat.
“Our roster features many upperclassmen, but we have a lot of talent in the freshmen and sophomore classes,” Roach said. “Our schedule is tough, and our conference games will be close, much like last year,”
When healthy, Hun may have the most talented side among the MAPL schools, but it needs to get off to a good start, something it hasn’t done the last two seasons.
“We’re looking good so far, but we have a difficult schedule and so every game looks to be pretty competitive,” Raiders coach Joanna Hallac said. “As long as we’re improving every time we step on the field and competing in every game, I’d call that a successful season.”
Lawrenceville only picked up three wins last season, but Jessica Magnuson’s group was better than its record showed.
“We have a good mix of veterans and new faces which should provide for an exciting season,” Magnuson said. “In order to be successful, we will need to be consistent defensively, have reli- able goalkeeping, and finish our opportunities.”