From start to finish JV field hockey dominated play in our game against perennial powerhouse Westminster—as the 11 corners and seven shots on goal attest. However, it was only in the last 90 seconds of the first half that the girls were able to put one in the cage: a gorgeous series of passes that began with center back Anna Scott ’18, who passed to midfielder Ashley Manning ’19, who sent it to forward Deirdre Mullowney ’19 who put the ball on goal—a classic back-to-mid-to-forward successful connection. That one goal affirmed all the hard work, and beautiful ball movement, the girls had made happen in the 23 minutes and 30 seconds of play up until that point. For most of the entire game the whole team worked together to carry the ball on the diagonal, pass flat and through, and move the ball to the right. Forward Raegan Hill ’19 and Ashley Manning ’19, who played both mid and forward, consistently made great passes to keep the ball moving; Sydney Gregg ’20 at right wing sent ball after ball across the top of the circle, while captain Maddie Blake ’17 made a successful return to the forward line, strong as ever after a brief hiatus due to injury. Emily Henderson ’18 continued to dominate at the midfield, putting on the pressure especially in corners. Center back Anna Scott did a fantastic job holding the middle, while backs Emma Jaskolski ’20 and Lynnette Jiang ’18 effectively blocked the sides. Hanna Deringer ’20, who played alternately left and right back, made some excellent tackles and several consistently booming free hits. Hunter Keller ’20 played well at left mid, but also at sweep, a positon she shared with Lily Faucett ’20—both girls did a great job in that second-to-last line of defense, reading the play well, and stepping up to commit to the ball only when teammates had recovered behind. In the second half, the girls scored quickly as, two and a half minutes in, middie Deirdre Mullowney ’19 passed to forward Katie Whalen ’18, who sent it to the post where Valeri Ma ’17 put it away. And less than five minutes later, Sydney Gregg ’19 passed to captain Jenna Greenbaum ’17 who passed to Katie Whalen (on post this time), who popped the ball in. And though goalie Lucy Blake ’19 enjoyed a shut-out in the first half, second-half goalie Niyafa Boucher ’18 was in the cage as our defense crumbled with a minute and half to go—an unfortunate mixture of needing to recover faster, needing to mark up tighter, and an accurate shot to the corner of the cage. But all in all, a winning day: counting first and second assists and three different girls scoring, seven different players contributed to our 3-1 win against Westie. Momentum is on our side as we head into the final weeks of our season—way to go, girls! (With special thanks to captain Sabrina Satirhos ’18, not feeling so well, who kept the book for us.)