The roar of the crowd fades around Jojo Vitaro ’26 as she takes a deep breath and 
steadies herself. As an oncoming attacker rushes toward her, Vitaro stands her ground 
and deftly steals the puck from the attacker with a well-timed sweep check. Seconds 
later, the clock rings and the PHS girls 
hockey team crowds around their 
captain as they celebrate a 7–3 victory 
against Lawrenceville, marking their 
third consecutive victory.

The ice rink was far from unfamiliar 
to Vitaro. She began playing hockey 
at five years old after her brother Nico 
Vitaro ’23 introduced her to the game.

“My brother gave a lot for his team 
when he was a freshman or when he 
was a senior; he played goalie for his 
team, even when he had never played 
goalie [before],” said Vitaro. “He 
sacrificed a lot for hockey and I look 
up to him for that.”

As a result of her family’s 
background in the sport, they 
became a source of inspiration for 
her passion for hockey. Still, she 
only rediscovered her passion after 
stepping away from the game for 
years to pursue a different sport, 
soccer. 

As Vitaro grew over the years 
after her return to the game, Head Coach Christian Herzog observed her growth 
as a player throughout her four years on the team. Specifically, Herzog emphasizes 
her importance as an honorable leader on the ice rink.

“She’s gotten better over the years positioning-wise — that’s a common theme 
within this team,” said Herzog. “She’s more trusted than she has been [in the past], 
and she earned that kind of trust.”

Furthermore, her attitude has also drawn attention from spectators. Herzog 
recalled others noticing Vitaro’s perseverance regardless of the outcome of the game.

“I’ve had colleagues of mine who come to see games, and even if we don’t [do 
well] ... they [say], ‘Hey, so I noticed 
a captain, she just doesn’t throw in 
the towel’,” said Herzog.

Similarly, her efforts have also 
been noticed by her teammates. 
Sophia Lee ’26, another co-captain 
on the team, emphasizes Vitaro’s 
willingness to be honest and 
communicative.

“A lot of people feel like they can’t 
give me feedback or that they’re not 
in the place [to do so],” said Lee. “But 
whenever the period ends, she’ll 
skate up to me, and she [says] ‘Hey, 
I’m just noticing this and this...’; then, 
I’ll do my best to correct it right away, 
and I honestly see that as one of her 
best qualities as a captain.”

Beyond her individual growth, 
Vitaro highlighted the improvement 
of the team as a whole throughout 
her career. Ever since Vitaro joined 
the team in her freshman year, 
she has witnessed the team make 
changes that allowed them to 
gradually improve.

“My freshman year, we lost all of 
our games,” said Vitaro. “Since then, 
we’ve had so much improvement ... We’ve won quite a few games this year and last 
year, and comparatively, we’re playing a lot better.”

Despite losses discouraging the team in the past and an 0–15 season in Vitaro’s 
freshman year, Herzog found that they were critical to the development of the team.

“You learn a lot more from a loss than you ever will from a win,” said Herzog. 
“Losses, which we’ve had plenty [of] over four years ... they create character.”

Vitaro recently committed to being a student-athlete at Tulane University. As 
she looks back on her time spent with the team, she cherishes every one of their 
moments together.

“Even though we haven’t been the strongest team in the past, it’s been worth every 
moment of stress, anger, and frustration,” said Vitaro.

Photo: Jasur Agzamov
After committing to Tulane, Vitaro feels proud of her improvement and looks forward to continuing her career in college

JoJo Vitaro '26: ice hockey

On October 24, the PHS varsity boys football team ended their season with a 35–0 shutout against West Windsor-Plainsboro South, marking the finale of a 7–2 season, a team best in 11 years. However, their season was cut short prematurely, as the team was disqualified from the playoffs. The Tigers faced three ejections, and a rule from the New Jersey Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) prevents teams with three or more 
ejections from participating in the state tournament. 

“Our coach [Charles Gallagher] told us,” said co-captain Ellington Hinds ’26. “He sat us down and told [the ruling] to us straight up, but then he left and gave us some time to think about it.”

When asked to provide commentary on the recent suspensions, Head Coach Charles Gallagher and Coach Brandon Williams both declined to be interviewed. Linebacker Julian Frevert ’27 explained how the playoff suspension resulted in a shared negative shift in the team’s attitude towards their season. 

“Leading up to the suspension, we were 6–1 ... so we were 
doing really [well],” said Frevert. “Then, [the suspension] 
happened, [which] kind of ruined the whole vibe of the 
team and made us feel like we messed up in some way.”

Anderson Potter ’26 took a more optimistic approach to 
the suspension, however, observing how the team gained 
experience by learning from past seasons. He explained 
how they leveraged this experience to succeed in the season.

“Everyone had their experience to lead up to these wins 
and built upon them,” said Potter. “I think we had a lot of 
success, and I think it was a really fun season. It was great.”
 
The suspension drew mixed reactions from the team, especially in the light of other issues that complicated this decision. Hinds believes the ejections weren’t entirely fair to the team.

“I think it’s because we are Princeton,” said Hinds. “It’s a [pattern] that the [referees] don’t like us.”

In terms of the ejections, Potter explained the first two ejections were due to unsportsmanlike conduct and an argument with a referee. He remarked that the third ejection, which led to the disqualification, was heavily contested by the team.

“The [third] one — this is the one that a lot of people are trying to argue against — [happened because] someone [said] 
something in a huddle,” said Potter. “The [referee] threw a flag because I think it was a bad word or maybe the [referee] didn’t like what he heard. That was the third one where he also got disqualified.”

While Frevert said that the team is generally displeased and disappointed with the disqualification due to the impressive season they had, he acknowledges that it wasn’t entirely uncalled for.

“In theory, [the decisions] were controversial, but by rule, it deserved to happen, and it should have happened to us,” said Frevert. “So as a team, we feel like it wasn’t deserved because we don’t feel like we’re the type of team to be disqualified. But, we did break the rules, and if you break the rules, you get disqualified.”

Additionally, the team is looking to focus more on sportsmanship and how they present themselves in upcoming seasons. Frevert echoed this sentiment, detailing the plan to work on behavior in the future. 

“The seniors talked about it, and we’re [going to] put a big emphasis on sportsmanship and how we behave in general and be more strict with the enforcement of punishment so [players] abide by the rules,” said Frevert.

Potter corroborated this idea of emphasizing sportsmanship within the team’s culture. He underlined the importance of ensuring this type of behavior doesn’t become a pattern or a reputation.

“The most important thing, especially for the freshmen, is knowing that this [behavior] is not normal, and this is not [what] should be expected from the team,” said Potter.“Everyone should be looking to build each other up and then everyone should also, learning from this event, carry themselves with the most professional attitude ... on and off the field.”

As the team puts this setback behind them, they aim to come back stronger next season, even with the loss of their many graduating seniors. 

“I feel like we have guys who could be better, who 
are [going to] step up, and I think that we’re [going 
to] be just as good, if not better, next year, and we’re 
[going to] work really hard to get there,” said Frevert.

Photo: Jasur Agzamov

Anderson Potter ’26, Dayron Ospina Posada ’26, Kobe Smith ’27, and Vincent Min ’28 celebrate a big play.

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