The Big Green traveled to Concord, NH this afternoon to take on St. Paul’s, the defending New England champions. With six players out due to illness/injury, we knew that we would need everyone’s best effort to come away with a win. This was a fantastic game with great pace, as both teams worked hard in all three zones, despite fifteen penalties being called on both sides. The home team had us on our heels on the very first shift, as their quickness in the offensive zone left us exposed in front of the net, ultimately leading to a goal less than 30 seconds into the game. We rebounded right back, however, with Meghan Halloran ’17 driving wide and slipping a pass across to Taylor Morash ’16, who buried the puck into the back of the net. These two would combine for several good scoring opportunities over the course of the game, and were generally dangerous every time they crossed the offensive blue line. The rest of the first and second periods were a back and forth affair, with both teams’ penalty killing units doing a tremendous job of limiting dangerous opportunities. Mary Edmonds ’19, Isabel Perry ’16, Halloran, Morash and all five of our defensemen (all 9th & 10th graders) were spectacular on the man down—-Edmonds and Perry were particularly effective, and their relentless pursuit of the puck inspired their teammates. Mae Emerson ’19 and Margaret Williams ’19 came close to giving DA the lead in the second period off of a nice shot/screen, but the SPS defense was able to clear the puck out of danger. Both teams had good scoring opportunities in the third period: Halloran and Morash combined for a near miss, and the line of Brenna Hoar ’18, Raegan Hill ’19 and Edmonds had several chances in tight. Unfortunately, the home team capitalized on a turnover in the neutral zone to go in on a breakaway, scoring with 6 seconds left in the game to earn the win. Despite the loss, this was an excellent all-around game for the Big Green—this young team has really started to come together over the past week. Deirdre Mullowney ’19 played her best game in a Deerfield uniform, while Ali Fujiyoshi ’19 and Ali Dougal ’18 both played huge minutes on defense and used their speed to slow the SPS attack. Jordan Manning ’19 was excellent in goal with 20 saves. We will now turn our attention to the Deerfield Invitational, as we will be welcoming five teams to campus this weekend for a great two days of hockey. Many thanks to the Wenners family for the pizza, fruit and drinks after the game, and to Mrs. Dougal for her famous cookies.