PRINCETON — Apparently, winning penalty-kick shootouts is a Princeton thing. One day after Princeton High’s girls’ soccer team used a round of PKs to advance from the first day of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association Group IV Tournament, the Tigers’ boys’ team used the same method of advancement by going to penalty kicks with 14th-seeded Hightstown before claiming that round, 3-2. But what a game it was as both Colonial Valley Conference squads went 100 minutes, playing scoreless soccer to earn the tie before the equally exciting shootout. Head coach Ryan Walsh’s third-seeded Princeton team (14-2-5) earns a second-round game with the winner of yesterday’s 11-seeded New Brunswick vs. sixth-seeded South Brunswick game. The next round will be held at Tigers Stadium Thursday, most likely a noon start to avoid the fleeting light that was toyed with Tuesday. “I love it,” Princeton senior goalkeeper Nicolas Holmelund said. “Penalty kicks are my specialty.” Yes, but on this afternoon, saving a penalty kick was not all that he did. The standout ‘keeper turned around to become his team’s fourth shooter and cranked a shot into the net to put the home side up, 2-1, at that point. “It threw me off momentarily seeing their goalkeeper go up there to shoot,” Rams senior ‘keeper Arnold Arevalo said. “I did my best to stop it, but the shot still went in.” No worries, Arevalo had kept the shootout round very interesting after Archie Smith gave the Tigers a 1-0 edge on his opening shot. Hightstown’s Erick Campoverde knotted the score before Arevalo smothered a blast from Chase Hamerschlag. When Holmelund dived to get a hand on and knock away Miguel Tafur’s third-round try, Arevalo met up with Princeton leading scorer Azariah Breitman. Arevalo saved Breitman’s offering, but the goalie was whistled for having gone in front of the line. Re-take. The second time, Arevalo did the same, stopping Breitman’s kick (this time legally) to keep the shootout tied at 1-1. The shootout came down to the last round as Esteban Castro connected to tie it at 2-2 before Connor Hewitt also put in his shot for the home side. “It was pretty good,” Arevalo said of the shootout. “I’m not going to lie. The fact that I got the second one after I was off the line on the first was special.” So was Arevalo’s play during regulation when he made 11 saves to give head coach George Wolkiewicz’ 9-9-2 club a chance in the scoreless game. The only shot he could not stop was when Aaron Thyrum struck a shot off the crossbar with 6:20 left in the first overtime session. Then the Rams suddenly had an opportunity when Holmelund came way off his line and slipped as Esteban Castro pushed toward the net. But Tigers junior fullback Chase Hamerschlag hurried back and dived to knock away the shot which could have won the game with 2:26 left in that OT. Better yet, one minute later, Hamerschlag was back on the goal line again with Holmelund out of position. This time, Hamerschlag stopped consecutive shots to keep the game going. “Oh man, it was great to be able to see Chase come up big on those,” Holmelund said. When asked which he preferred more, saving penalty kicks or shooting them, the veteran said, “Saving them, although I do like taking them. When you are on that line, all the odds are against you. So coming up big with a save is fantastic.” Arevalo agreed even though his team saw its season come to an end. “We got off to a very slow start,” he said. “But I look at it like a snowball on a hill. Slowly the ball rolls down, but as it does, it becomes bigger. That’s how our season was. It was unforgettable.” Hightstown (9-9-2)             0   0   0   0    —    0 Princeton (14-2-5)              0   0   0   0    —    0 (Princeton advances on pks, 3-2) Shots: 10 (H), 12 (P); Saves: Arevalo 11 (H), Holmelund 7 (P).