The thirds girls team hurried onto the bus and rushed to Northfield Mount Hermon directly after classes on Friday afternoon hoping for their first win of the season, but the long week and gloomy drizzle seemed to take a toll on Deerfield’s players. Though the Triumphs have shown they possess the skills, strength, and speed to defeat the Hoggers, things didn’t quite click in Northfield that afternoon.
Deerfield left keeper FJ Marsh fairly lonely in the net, pinning NMH to the goal for all of regulation time with the exception of a few lucky breakaways quickly taken care of by green defenders. Sarah Wright and Catalina Llorente spent another game beating back NMH’s strikers, hanging back at the half and clearing the ball out towards the sidelines. Meanwhile, Hope Smith, Anna Harvey, Annabelle Mauri, and Chelsea Egu, all of whom took a turn in the back, hustled and scrapped to steal the ball from NMH’s offense on their rare movements towards Deerfield’s goal.
Despite clearly feeling the absence of goal-hungry Jordan Manning and aggressive yet cool-headed Mia Burch, Big Green seemed to come somewhat close to scoring a few times. Middies Dominique Whitney and Caroline Carpenter connected with Katie Parker, Whitney Vogt, Grace Knight, and Maggie Tydings up for some clean passes. Parker and Vogt both took advantage of these for a handful of breakaways but couldn’t get Deerfield onto the scoreboard, and Knight’s shot flew far wide of the net.
Overall, though the thirds’ girls’ skills were not as prominently on display as during other games this season, they demonstrated good sportsmanship, group unity, and resilience, shaking off a frustrating 0-0 tie and holding a joyful team Taylor Swift sing-a-long on the bus back (Coaches Heise and Gonzales did not participate). The team will be working on fighting for the ball and shooting on the goal this week as they seek redemption and a solid verdict in the Triumphs-Hoggers crossvalley rivalry during Friday’s home game against NMH.