PMS 2021 Fall Sports Summary
Boys Soccer
The boys A soccer team was .500 this year with a record of 4-4. Injuries were a bigger factor than most years as the team literally did not have a single game at full strength. The two best wins of the season were both 5-2 against Stone Bridge and Lawrence. The team’s regular starters included six seventh-grade players, so the outlook for next year is very promising. Troi Panniel and Riccardo Meloni are both extremely talented seventh graders who will almost certainly dominate next year.
The PMS Boys soccer B team had a very exciting season. The record and scores do not accurately reflect the talent of potential that the team has. This season saw many tense games that could have gone either way for the majority of play time, a few unlucky situations lead to a slightly disappointing final record, but the skills and enthusiasm that the players showed off was very inspiring. Coaches McEvoy and Halfacre look forward to seeing what the players will bring to the pitch next season.
Tennis Club
Tennis Club had another successful season under the leadership of Coach Powlen and Coach Mathews. The club welcomed over 40 athletes daily and almost 70 participated at some point in the season. Our focus is on fun over competition. More experienced players were able to practice independently with each other. Beginners spent their time with instruction followed by guided practice. By the end of the season every player was able to rally with another student thanks to the guidance of the coaches. Practice begins after a relaxing walk from PMS to the Community Park Courts. Pleasant weather and good company made for many fun afternoons.
Field Hockey
The Princeton Middle School field hockey team ended the season with a 4-5-3 record. Teams A and B were combined for many of the games. The team scored a total of 19 goals with 8 of the goals coming off assists. The three team goalies combined for 26 saves throughout the season. Encouragement, determination, and grit were present throughout the season. Each player brought 110% effort to every practice and game. We became a strong field hockey community and consistently demonstrated good sportsmanship. We could not be more proud of our players! Go Tigers!
Cross Country
The Princeton Middle School Cross Country Team had a fun and successful season. Despite having over 100 athletes on the team, we decided to not make any cuts to be as inclusive as possible. In addition to running, we held multiple practices where we focused on growth, reflection, team-building, and goal-setting for all of our runners. Our Boys Team averaged 17:29 as a team at the beginning of the season and finished the season averaging 16:46. Our girls team averaged 17:35 at the beginning of the season and finished the season averaging 16:44 for 2 miles. We promised the whole team an ice cream party if they collectively got faster as a team, and they reached their team goal which was fantastic and exciting for our runners.
While we only had 1 bus for meets, we decided to shuttle students back and forth for our two home meets, so we could give every runner the opportunity to participate in our races at Greenway Meadows. When we had practices at Greenway, sometimes the top 50 runners would practice at Greenway, and sometimes the bottom 50 would go. On these days, Coach Lee and Coach Jaeger would hold practice for these runners at each location. For away meets, we brought our top 15 boys and top 15 girls, and then rotated the 20 other spots between other runners on our team to give more runners an opportunity to race. It was great to work with all our runners again and see them set goals, make friends, work hard, and achieve their goals.
The boys team finished their season 8-1.
The girls team finished their season 9-0.