Panthers’ ‘Thomas Train’ chugs into quarterfinals
There was a tough loss to town rival Princeton in the Mercer County Tournament quarterfinals, but since then the Princeton Day School girls lacrosse team has been on a mission, or two, or three.
Certainly, the first objective was to win the state Prep B title and that has been accomplished.
Next on the agenda for the Panthers is to become the first school in PDS history to capture an NJSIAA state title and that is still a work in progress.
The final goal is to make sure Hall of Fame coach Jill Thomas has a fitting farewell to this her final season.
The ‘Thomas Title Train’ has its next stop on Thursday at the Panthers’ Smoyer Field when No. 8 St. Elizabeth visits the topseeded Panthers in an NJSIAA Non-Public B Quarterfinal.
PDS (11-8) opened state tournament play with a nice 13-1 win over Morris Catholic and St. Elizabeth (10-8) downed Newark Academy to advance.
The has been a little from everyone that has added up to four straight wins for Princeton Day.
They are getting strong play in the attacking zone, solid and aggressive play in the midfield and denying defense in the zone.
Driving the ‘Thomas Train’ on the forward line has been Tessa Caputo with 19 goals during the four-game winning streak, Sophia Jaffe has 14 goals, Paige Gardner 13, Elle Anhut
has 12 assists and Ali Surace has eight helpers.
All have contributed all season and they are stepping it up at the right time.
St. Elizabeth, which has won five of seven games, is led by Annalisa Bio with 45 goals, Avery Amato has caged 37, Colleen Dooley has 31 and freshman Scarlett Claps has 29.
When the tournament season began back on May 5, the Panthers were 6-7 and since then they have gone 5-1, with the only loss the wake-up call at Princeton High.
One of the reasons PDS seems to be peaking at the right time is the difficult early schedule it played. It opened with Clearview,
then Hillsborough, Haddonfield and Lawrenceville.
It is definitely a team on a mission.
A mission that has seen one in the books, now they are looking to add a little history to PDS’ athletic accomplishments and finally they hope to have a memorable and unforgettable ending.