PDS reaches first state final
Panthers knock off Trinity Hall for sectional title
If the Princeton Day School girls soccer team was going to win a Non-Public A South sectional title, it seemed fitting that it would have to go through its former coach who pushed so hard for it to join the NJSIAA.
Adriana Salzano and Juliana Hartman scored on either side of halftime and the fifth-seeded Panthers advanced to the state final for the first time in program history with a 2-0 victory over Pat Trombetta’s third-seeded Trinity Hall on Tuesday afternoon at Maria Gatta Park.
“It was something that I was thinking about in the game, but Coach T, me and him go back to my freshman year,” Salzano said. “He’s an amazing coach. I wanted to come out there and give him a little run for his money and we did that. We came out here and got the job done.”
Trombetta won 177 games, eight Prep B state champions and a Mercer County Tournament title during his 14 seasons in charge of the Princeton Day program. He pushed behind the scenes to get the athletic program to join the NJSIAA so it could be in games like Tuesday afternoon’s sectional final.
When the pairings were released, it was hard not to look ahead to a possible match between PDS and Trinity Hall.
“They are a quality team. Those seniors, I’m very familiar with them, and they are very good players. I think they lead that team,” Trombetta said. “If we’re going to lose this thing, I don’t mind seeing Princeton Day advance of all the teams in this bracket.”
The Panthers (16-2-3) advanced to the Non-Public A state championship final against Mount St. Dominic (20-2) — a 2-1 winner over Immacualte Heart in North Jersey — on Friday at Franklin High.
“I’m speechless. I can’t even explain it,” senior center back Tochi Owunna said. “It feels amazing to be one away from the actual state final.”
PDS started quickly, and if it wasn’t for the quick reactions of Monarchs goalkeeper Emily Venezia to keep out attempts from Juliana Hartman, Abby Weed and Salzano, the visitors would have been off to a perfect start.
Even though the home side settled in, the Panthers got the breakthrough with 13:21 remaining when Salzano pounced on a long throw-in by Tochi Owunna that pinged around the box before it was touched on by Makena Graham. The senior, who will play her college soccer just a few miles away from Maria Gatta Park at Monmouth, fired a shot past Venezia for her 17th of the season.
“We kept saying whoever gets the first goal is going to get the momentum,” Salzano said. “After that we kept saying to ourself ‘we got this, we can’t look back, we can’t stop now.’ We didn’t. From there on out we scored the second goal and that was huge for us.”
Big players show up in big games.
“I knew right off the bat she was high quality,” Trombetta said. “Based on her work rate, she was only going to get better. She proved today what she grew into as a high school player.”
Hartman doubled the PDS lead with 29:21 to play when she knocked in Mackenzie Brodel’s corner kick from close range.
Trinity Hall (15-4-1) had its share of corner kicks and half chances — the best of which came when Isabella Anzevino flashed a header wide with 20 minutes remaining — but the Panthers’ stingy defense, one that has only conceded more than once in two games all season, held firm for a famous victory.
One the seniors will remember for so many reasons because they know none of this would be possible without the 14 years Trombetta gave to PDS.
“It shows his character as a person,” Owunna said. “Some coaches would be like I used to coach here and I don’t really care about them anymore. He just showed who he is as a person and how he’s proud of us because he knew us and he coached us.”