Princeton celebrates regional quarterfinal win over Olympia – Shaw Local
Princeton’s Jackson DeRose attacks the goal in Saturday’s regional quarterfinal soccer match vs. Stanford Olympia at Bryant Field. The Tigers won 6-2. (Mike Vaughn)
Regional victories are reason to celebrate for Princeton soccer coach David Gray and senior keeper Landon Davis.
The Tigers had a regional drought of four years before breaking through last year. On Saturday, the Tigers added another win in regional play with a 6-2 victory over Stanford Olympia in a quarterfinal match at Bryant Field.
“All four years we’ve only won a regional game twice. That’s very exciting for us,” Davis said. “For us, the challenge was to stay in it and keep our heads in it.”
“When the finality of it is in front of it, playoff wins always mean more. Doesn’t matter what round it is,” Gray said. “You cherish them because we’ve had some down years as a program. Early when I was coaching, we had some solid teams and I think you start to take certain things for granted like how hard it is to win playoff games. It feels good.”
Princeton’s Jakoby Smallwood is heads up in Saturday’s regional quarterfinal soccer match vs. Stanford Olympia at Bryant Field. The Tigers won 6-2. (Mike Vaughn)
The Tigers staked Davis to a 6-1 lead at halftime with Erfann Yousufy scoring twice and Tyler VanDenventer, Jackson DeRose, Landon Fairbanks and Jonah Taylor each finding the back of the net once.
Davis said that kind of support always makes his job easier.
“Helps me mentally prepare because some times its a little nerve wracking. Every time I make a mistake it’s a point for the other time,” Davis said.
While he was not happy to surrender the two goals, Gray was pleased with the Tigers’ overall performance.
“Especially in the first half, we moved the ball really well through the midfield and started seeing balls through their back line and really got guys in really good position to score,“ he said. ”And we took care of finishing, put the ball in the net. We came ready to play. I felt like if we were in the mood to play today, we’d give ourselves a good chance and that’s exactly what happened.”
The Tigers (5-16-1) will face Peoria Christian (18-5-2) at 4:30 p.m. Monday at the Eastside Center in East Peoria. Gray told his team to “shock the world.”
“Peoria Christian is always a solid program. They have a good team his year. I know they beat Mendota (3-2) on Tuesday and we know how good Mendota is. It’s going to take our best effort and some good luck,” Gray said.
“But we’re going to go (down) there and give them as good as a game we can and hope for the best. Hopefully, we get our tactics right and give ourselves a chance.”
Davis is up for the challenge.
“I think if we put everybody forward and keep our heads in it we can play a good match,” he said.
Princeton’s Jackson Ellis pushes the ball up in Saturday’s regional quarterfinal soccer match vs. Stanford Olympia at Bryant Field. The Tigers won 6-2. (Mike Vaughn)
Kevin has been sports editor of the BCR since 1986 and is Sports Editor of Putnam County Record. Was previously sports editor of the St. Louis Daily News and a regular contributor for the St. Louis Cardinals Magazine. He is a member of the IBCA and Illinois Valley Hall of Fames. He is one of 4 sportswriters from his tiny hometown Atlanta, IL
