In our last game before Long Winter Weekend, Deerfield Hockey took on a talented Andover squad in front of enthusiastic crowd at home on Saturday night. The first period was back and forth, with both teams earning chances and flying all over the ice. The Big Green capitalized first, as Aurora Devereaux ’20 took a pass from Shai Lineberry ’17 and got the puck to the net. Devereaux then went hard to the net with Brenna Hoar ’18, and Hoar slipped the puck loose for Aurora to bang home. In the second period, the momentum shifted decisively toward the visitors, and they kept us on our heels with quick puck movement down low. Luckily, Liv Mikesell ’20 and the defense held strong, but we knew we were lucky to escape the period unscathed. Though Andover tied the score early in the third period, Deerfield dominated much of the final frame. We buzzed around the Big Blue net for shifts at a time, and had one spectacular power play opportunity where the unit of Mary Edmonds ’19, Meghan Halloran ’17, Jenna Greenbaum ’17, Ali Fujiyoshi ’19, and Deirdre Mullowney ’19 hit several posts and left even more pucks seemingly right on the goal line. Kudos to the Andover goalie here, who stood on her head to keep her team in the game. Finally, with less than a minute to go, Mae Emerson ’19 got the puck to Devereaux, who put two shots on goal before Christina Halloran ’20 jammed the puck in to take the lead. We stood tall for the final 45 seconds, and smart, composed play never allowed Andover to set up an attack. This was an outstanding hockey game by both teams, and a true team win. We battled our hearts out, and demonstrated real team unity down the stretch. We have a long layoff before taking on Westminster a week from Wednesday. Many thanks to the Messinas for the delicious spread of mac and cheese, chili, cornbread, salad, fruit and desserts after the game.