The Girls JV Hockey team traveled to Hotchkiss on Saturday anticipating a good game between two well-matched teams. Deerfield was missing five players due to injury and illness, but the girls picked up the slack and played a solid game from start to finish. The line of Katie Morse ’17, Kathryn Grennon ’17 and Claire Koeppel ’18 established the tone with steady offense in the first period and generated a number of good scoring opportunities that were turned away by the quick Hotchkiss goaltender. A couple of Deerfield penalties late in the period created a 5 on 3 advantage for the home team, but strong play by Katie Whalen ’18 and goalie Hannah Swinerton ’17 helped to neutralize the Hotchkiss offense.
The defense played exceptionally well the rest of the way, as Maggie Roche ’19, Cornelia Mackay ’18 and Tierney Roche ’18 effectively broke up passes and initiated offensive counterattacks. Katie Whalen, Bailey Cheetham ’19, Annie Illsley ’18, Alli Norris ’18 and Annabelle Gerber ’20 kept the pressure on the Hotchkiss net, but the goalie stopped everything until Tierney Roche snuck in from the point to score on a shot from the high slot. The third period featured back and forth action, but Deerfield finished up strong and held on for a 1-0 victory.