PRINCETON — Whether it be boys’ soccer in the fall or baseball in the spring, every team would love to have an all-purpose player like Princeton High senior back Chase Hamerschlag.
The recent Elon University baseball commit continues to show all that he can do on the soccer field as well.
While he is an important cog in head coach Ryan Walsh’s defense, he is also a part of the Tigers’ offense.
The fact that he is already built like a college player makes Hamerschlag that much more formidable a foe for high school opponents, no matter where he is on the field.
Princeton Day School got a taste of the Hamerschlag effect Thursday in a Colonial Valley Conference Colonial Division battle at Jan Baker Field.
Head coach Gary Roberts’ Panthers put forth a tremendous effort, but lost, 2-1, when Hamerschlag moved into the offense for about 30 minutes, including the start of the second half.
“I do like going up top,” Hamerschlag said. “This is a game where I would go up top because they often had five men back. When they are playing that far back, I can help out up there.”
Before Princeton (8-0) reached that comfort zone, however, it had to adjust to a much improved PDS club (4-4) which took the lead with 17:50 left in the first half when Aiden George sent a ball through to his junior classmate Keegan Fullman, who kicked in his seventh goal of the season. It was also just the second goal the Tigers had surrendered this year.
The way Panthers junior goalkeeper Connor Lemole was playing (12 saves) it looked like that one score might be enough, but the visitors evened the score with 2:03 left in the first half when a corner kick was headed off the goal line by a PDS defender, only to be headed back in by Princeton junior Alborz Khorsandi.
“The matchup was intimidating in the days leading up to it, but we went into the game with high hopes,” said Lemole, who is an impressive soccer newcomer. “I was getting peppered, but that’s what I do.”
Hamerschlag had moved forward before Khorsandi scored. After a discussion with Walsh at halftime, he stayed up there when play resumed.
“We have plenty of guys who play good defense, so I can go up, score a goal, then drop back,” Hamerschlag said.
Of course, it may not always work out that way.
As luck would have it Thursday, he got a foot on a serve from senior fullback Marko Mueller to redirect a ball past Lemole with 20:27 left in the second half for the go-ahead goal (his second of the season). Then Hamerschlag switched back to his position on the back line to help the Tigers hold onto the slim lead.
The move was helpful since the Panthers continued to surge forward down the stretch. With 15 seconds remaining, Hamerschlag headed a serve from George away from the net, then he pressured Fullman as he worked his way to the end line, so that sophomore goalkeeper Ari Rosenblum could cover the final shot as time expired.
Princeton(8-0) 1 1 — 2
PDS (4-4) 1 0 — 1
Goals: Khorsandi, Hamerschlag (P), Fullman (PDS); Assists: Mueller (P), George (PDS).
Shots: 15 (P), 6 (PDS); Saves: Rosenblum 5 (P), Lemole 12 (PDS).
