PRINCETON — The Lawrenceville School and Princeton Day School varsity boys’ soccer teams have been through their share of funks this season. Yet as the 2024 campaign moves into October, both the Big Red and the Panthers are hoping those stretches are going to change. All looked good for both for 25 minutes Friday when they met at Jan Baker Field. Then, L’ville did the one thing it is a little better at than PDS. It scored once in each half to pull out a 2-0 victory. Few were happier on this day than Aaron Rodricks. The postgraduate from Trevor Day School in New York City has been recovering from a torn anterior cruciate ligament and meniscus in his right knee. Yesterday was his first time on the field with head coach Chris Whalen’s team after nine months of recovery. “I missed (soccer) a lot after almost a year of not playing,” Rodricks said. “I really just met these guys.” Rodricks clearly made fast friends because with 15:33 left in the first half he received a slot pass from senior striker Caio Paiva and finished it for the opening score. “My first touch was my first goal. That’s pretty nice,” the Manhattan native said. It has been that kind of a stretch for these two defensive-minded teams. The Big Red were held scoreless in three consecutive losses in September, but other than that has been able to find the net at least once in eight of its 11 contests. Head coach Gary Roberts’ Panthers, meanwhile, have been in a rough slump over their last six games. After starting the season with three wins in four games and scoring seven times, Princeton Day has only been able to manage three goals total in its last six losses. “The past few games have been tough,” PDS senior goalkeeper Oren Yakoby said. “I think our defense did an amazing job, but coming in, I don’t think we were as motivated as we could have been.” Yakoby, who like his L’ville counterpart Brian Boanoh, has posted three shutouts this year, made eight saves Friday to keep the game close. But midway through the second half, the visitors extended their lead when junior wing Ayodele Joa-Griffith headed in a cross from his classmate Nelson Liu. “We’re definitely going into old habits,” said Yakoby, who has been his team’s starting goalkeeper for the last two seasons. “We need a good upset, then things will start to turn around.” To do so, the Panthers will need to find the back of the net more consistently. As for the Big Red, they have won two of their last three games to put themselves in better shape with a 4-5-2 record. While a strong defense is the backbone, scoring also helps. Lawrenceville(4-5-2)             1   1    —    2 PDS (3-7)                              0   0    —    0 Goals: Rodricks, Joa-Griffith (L); Assists: Paiva, Liu (L). Shots: 10 (L), 5 (PDS); Saves: Boanoh 5 (L), Yakoby 8 (PDS). THRIVE CHARTER 6, STEMCIVICS CHARTER 1 EWING — Adolphus Temeh’s hat trick with an assist moved him over 50 goals for his career as Thrive Charter defeated the Purple Lightning. Jonathan Alvarez, Eric Freeman and Santi Estrada also scored for the visitors. Thrive Charter (7-3)              3   3    —    6 STEMCivicsCharter(1-10)     0   1    —    1 Goals: Temeh 3, Alvarez, Freeman, Estrada (TC), n/a (SCC); Assists: Mendoza, Temeh, Quijada (TC), n/a (SCC). BORDENTOWN 4, TRENTON 3 BORDENTOWN — Joey Klama’s second-half hat trick brought the Scotties back to defeat the Tornadoes. Goals by Ruben Hernandez Parral, Hector Aldana Lopez and David de los Santos-Pino put Trenton up, 3-1, at the break. Trenton (4-5-1)                     3   0    —    3 Bordentown(6-3-1)                1   3    —    4 Goals: Hernandez Parral, Aldana Lopez, de los Santos-Pino (T), Oswari, Klama 3 (B); Assists: Esteban, Merlin Labre (T), Klama, Carlini (B). Shots: 11 (T), 17 (B); Saves: Campos 13 (T), Mellor 7, Zaremba 1 (B). FLORENCE 7, EWING 1 FLORENCE — Jordan Borota, Eddie Smith and Justin Marbach each had a goal and an assist in the Flashes’ win over the Blue Devils. Derek Tindall added two goals with an assist. Ewing (0-12)                         0   1    —    1 Florence (9-4)                       6   1    —    7 Goals: Santiago-Carabello (E), Fitzpatrick, Borota, ESmith, Tindall 2, Marbach, Trezza (F); Assists: Borota, ESmith, Tindall, Marbach (F). Shots: 5 (E), 17 (F); Saves: EMartinez 10 (E), Habingreither 4 (F).