On a rainy, cold afternoon at Exeter (and after a long bus ride) the DA JV field hockey team could not put together the win—even with a score of 2-3 with 6 minutes left on the clock. The Exeter team scored twice within the first 10 minutes of the first half, and we found ourselves playing catch-up the rest of the game. But despite getting beat on transition, in the backfield Emily Henderson ’19 had some great blocks, self-starts and feeds into the circle; Hannah Deringer ’20 made some timely blocks; and Lynnette Jiang ’18 and Emma Jaskolski ’20 also played well. Sabrina Sotirhos ’18 at sweep and Lily Faucett ’20, another of our backs, came through in clutch moments, as did centerback Anna Scott ’18. Goalie Niyafa Boucher ’18 made save after save, effectively keeping us in the game. At the midfield, Ashley Manning ’19 consistently fed the ball into the circle, while Hunter Keller ‘20 and Sydney Gregg ’20 both played aggressively on offense and defense. Forward Valerie Ma ‘17 not only dropped back to help out on defense, but she attacked in the circle; and forward Katie Whalen ’18 showed great aggression with clean dodges and passing on the attack. Also on the forward line, Raegan Hill ’19 kept knocking on the door, while wing Maddie Blake ’17 made some great crosses. Forward Deirdre Mullowney ‘19, who scored both DA goals, was aggressive in the circle, even pulling us within reach in the final minutes of the game. We were so close! The upside of Saturday’s loss is that we know what we need to work on as we head into our next two games—both against the neighbor up the hill, Northfield Mount Hermon.