Girls’ thirds soccer started the year off with a bang in a blowout 8-1 victory over Miss Porter’s. The squad gathered on a muggy Wednesday afternoon to take on the “fighting daisies,” and drew on their hard work in practice, camaraderie as a team, and aggressive style of play to put together the decisive win.
It was a day of firsts for team newcomers, who scored their first points for Deerfield early on in the game. Time and again, the Big Green stumped Miss Porter’s defense. Deerfield got on the scoreboard quickly with two powerful goals buried in the back of the net by Kikka Giudici ’20, both unassisted. Morgan Clough ’20 followed with a shot that rolled past the goalie to consolidate Deerfield’s early lead, and then Giudici threaded the needle once again to give Deerfield a fourth point. Griffin Dewey ’20 rounded out the half with a fifth goal, and goal keeper Sydney Bluestein ’21 stayed solid in the net to shut Porter’s out for the first half.
Kicking off the second half on a good note, a game-long campaign by Whitney Vogt ’20 finally paid off when her shot found the top corner of the net. A fast break by a Porter’s player found a hole in Deerfield’s defense to give the visitors one point, though it would be Bluestein’s only allowance of the day. Deerfield adjusted on defense, and the ball rarely crossed the half for the rest of the game, as Vogt and then Dewey both scored again, Dewey on a miraculous no-angle shot and Vogt on another huge boot.
Strong play by the rest of the team enabled such glory at the goal throughout the game. Samara Cummings ’20 was a calming presence in the midfield, controlling and settling errant balls over the course of the match. On defense, 9th grader Taylor Coan was a stalwart stopper,working with senior captain Annabelle Mauri, junior Catalina Llorente, and sophomore Trish Boonpongmanee to quickly and effectively neutralize any defensive threats. Toggling between forward and midfield, Sabrina Ticer-Wurr ’21, Hope Smith ’20, and captain Izzy Ortiz ’18 helped create great offensive momentum and distribute balls across the field and doing their part to contribute to Deerfield’s big win.
The team looks forward to another week of practice before a home contest against NMH this coming Wednesday.