Princeton High's Kingston Lipsey, left, heads the ball as he's challenged by Notre Dame's Will Lynch, right, during the CVC Tournament boys soccer final on Saturday afternoon at Ackerson Field in Hopewell Twp. (Kyle Franko/ Trentonian Photo)Princeton High's Aaron Thyrum, right, tries to move around Notre Dame's Riley Miracola, left, during the CVC Tournament boys soccer final on Saturday afternoon at Ackerson Field in Hopewell Twp. (Kyle Franko/ Trentonian Photo)Princeton High's Archie Smith controls the ball against Notre Dame during the CVC Tournament boys soccer final on Saturday afternoon at Ackerson Field in Hopewell Twp. (Kyle Franko/ Trentonian Photo)Notre Dame's Antonio Mandreucci, right, tries to move the ball past the tackle of Princeton High's Thomsen Lord, left, during the CVC Tournament boys soccer final on Saturday afternoon at Ackerson Field in Hopewell Twp. (Kyle Franko/ Trentonian Photo)Notre Dame's Connor Hewitt, left, and Jaiden Jain-Edwards, right, tackle the ball away from Notre Dame's Will Lynch, center, during the CVC Tournament boys soccer final on Saturday afternoon at Ackerson Field in Hopewell Twp. (Kyle Franko/ Trentonian Photo)Princeton High's Azariah Breitman, left, tries to go past Notre Dame's Jayce Palumbo, right, during the CVC Tournament boys soccer final on Saturday afternoon at Ackerson Field in Hopewell Twp. (Kyle Franko/ Trentonian Photo)Notre Dame's Riley Miracola, left, slides to tackle the ball away from Princeton High's Derek Leiva, right, during the CVC Tournament boys soccer final on Saturday afternoon at Ackerson Field in Hopewell Twp. (Kyle Franko/ Trentonian Photo)Princeton High's Chase Hamerschlag, center, leaps to head the ball against Notre Dame during the CVC Tournament boys soccer final on Saturday afternoon at Ackerson Field in Hopewell Twp. (Kyle Franko/ Trentonian Photo)Notre Dame's Will Lynch looks on against Princeton High during the CVC Tournament boys soccer final on Saturday afternoon at Ackerson Field in Hopewell Twp. (Kyle Franko/ Trentonian Photo)Notre Dame goalkeeper Anthony Merluse, right, leaps to catch the ball as he's challenged by Princeton High's Archie Smith, left, during the CVC Tournament boys soccer final on Saturday afternoon at Ackerson Field in Hopewell Twp. (Kyle Franko/ Trentonian Photo)Princeton High goalkeeper Nicolas Holmelund, 00, leaps to catch the ball in front of Notre Dame's Will Lynch, 11, during the CVC Tournament boys soccer final on Saturday afternoon at Ackerson Field in Hopewell Twp. (Kyle Franko/ Trentonian Photo)Princeton High goalkeeper Nicolas Holmelund, 00, watches the ball sail wide of the goal against Notre Dame during the CVC Tournament boys soccer final on Saturday afternoon at Ackerson Field in Hopewell Twp. (Kyle Franko/ Trentonian Photo)Princeton High's Kingston Lipsey, left, and Notre Dame's Nick Angiolino, right, leap for the ball during the CVC Tournament boys soccer final on Saturday afternoon at Ackerson Field in Hopewell Twp. (Kyle Franko/ Trentonian Photo)Notre Dame's Isaac Bustamente, left, tackles the ball away from Princeton High's Jaiden Jain-Edwards, right, during the CVC Tournament boys soccer final on Saturday afternoon at Ackerson Field in Hopewell Twp. (Kyle Franko/ Trentonian Photo)Notre Dame coach Bryan Fisher, right, hugs Princeton High coach Ryan Walsh, left, before the start of the CVC Tournament boys soccer final on Saturday afternoon at Ackerson Field in Hopewell Twp. (Kyle Franko/ Trentonian Photo)Show Caption1 of 15Princeton High's Kingston Lipsey, left, heads the ball as he's challenged by Notre Dame's Will Lynch, right, during the CVC Tournament boys soccer final on Saturday afternoon at Ackerson Field in Hopewell Twp. (Kyle Franko/ Trentonian Photo)Expand HOPEWELL TWP. — The last Colonial Valley Conference boys’ soccer team to win a Mercer County Tournament title became the first one to win the new CVC Tournament when Princeton High defeated Notre Dame High, 1-0, Saturday at Hopewell Valley High’s Ackerson Field. The second-seeded Tigers (14-2-3), who tied the Pennington School for the MCT crown in 2016, appeared to be headed in a similar direction yesterday until junior fullback Chase Hamerschlag pushed forward on a corner kick with 9:49 left in the second half of an otherwise scoreless contest. His classmate, junior midfielder Aaron Thyrum, lofted the corner to the far side of the net, where Hamerschlag leaped and popped a head ball into the corner for what proved to be the game’s only goal. “When I go up there (to take a corner kick),” Thyrum said, “I’m looking for my target guys. I wanted to put the ball in a good spot. What a great header by Chase.” “What a great corner kick that was by Aaron,” Hamerschlag said, returning the compliment. “He put the ball to the back post, where I needed to get it. With the wind (gusting to nearly 20 miles per hour across the field), the ball was frozen in the air for a while. But I kept my head down, then bounced up and headed it into the corner.” In a game that was very even for 80 minutes, that was the one blemish for either side. It was quite the surprise to head coach Bryan Fisher’s fourth-seeded Irish (16-6), who have scored 91 goals this season and were shut out for just the third time. It was also his team’s second close loss to Princeton this fall. “One slip up,” said frustrated ND junior back Jayce Palumbo, who had done yeoman’s work against Tigers senior scorer Azariah Breitman all game. “They have a lot of big players. We just had to want it more. For the most part, I thought we did.” “We beat them in a really, really close game during the regular season,” Thyrum said, remembering his team’s 3-2 victory over the Irish back on Oct. 1 when Andre Ansarah scored with 40 seconds left in regulation. “We wanted it every bit as much today. You work hard every day to beat one of your fiercest rivals. We work on late-game situations and corner kicks just for game’s like this.” Head coach Ryan Walsh’s Princeton squad, the defending NJSIAA Group IV state champions, had the best chances in the first half with Hamerchlag sending a 45-yard free kick on goal with seven minutes left, then Breitman getting free from Palmubo for one of the rare moments to send a ball on goal, only to see ND sophomore goalkeeper Anthony Merluse make the cover just before Jaiden Jain-Edwards could get a foot on it. The second half saw Notre Dame (16-6) get the closest chances to start. Eight-and-a-half minutes in, Luca Ercolano sent in a 25-yard free kick that Tigers senior goalkeeper Nicolas Holmelund had to tap over the crossbar. Even after Hamerschlag scored, the Irish responded by getting three corner kicks of their own in the next two minutes, but could not put one behind Holmelund or the Princeton back line of Hamerschlag, Matt Chao, Thomsen Lord or Connor Hewitt, who secured their 10th shutout of 2024. “This is our first step on the path toward our goal,” Thyrum said after helping Princeton claim the first CVC Tournament trophy, one season after the Mercer County Tournament was discontinued. Notre Dame (16-6)             0   0    —    0 Princeton (14-2-3)              0   1    —    1 Goal: Hamerschlag (P); Assist: Thyrum (P). Shots: 7 (ND), 7 (P); Saves: Merluse 6 (ND), Holmelund 7 (P).