The Big Green made the short trip to Northfield today to take on a solid NMH squad. We knew that the first period would be tough, as this was our first league game of 2016, but we wanted to get off to a strong start. Unfortunately, our rust was very apparent in the opening frame. The home team was winning the race to every puck, our defensive zone coverage had plenty of holes, and our overall pace was not what it had been in practice over the past week. We were lucky to escape the first period tied 0-0, but NMH scored early in the second off of a nice individual effort to take a 1-0 lead. The tide began to turn about halfway through the period, however, as several good shifts in a row began to the tilt the ice in Deerfield’s favor. The third period began with us still down 1-0, but we dominated the final frame, keeping the home team on their heels with an aggressive forecheck. Meghan Halloran ’17, who was our spark plug today, finally evened the score on the power play as she fired home a rebound from a Taylor Morash ’16 shot. Deirdre Mullowney ’19 earned the secondary assist on the play. Three minutes later, Halloran beat her defender to the puck and found Morash in front of the net, who did not hesitate to roof the puck past the NMH goalie. Jenna Greenbaum ’17 added an empty net goal in the final minute to seal the win for the Big Green. After a rough start, the entire team found a way to rally, and the energy on the bench in the third period was just remarkable. Emily Yue ’16 was solid in goal with 18 saves, while Deerfield put 25 shots on the NMH net. Ali Dougal ’18 and Erin DeMarco ’19 played very well on defense, while Mae Emerson ’19 used her speed at forward to generate several excellent scoring opportunities. Next up is a long trip to Exeter on Saturday. Thank you to the Emersons for the pizza, cookies, and drinks after the game, and to all of the families who braved the cold to come out and support the team.