On a cool and blustery fall day, JV field hockey hit the road at 7am to travel down to take on the Choate Wild Boars for a 9:30am game. The girls hit the ground running with a quick warm-up, “dialed” with enthusiasm. From the first pass-back it was clear that DA was all in, passing, communicating and supporting one another on defense. Within minutes, DA had five or six shots on goal in quick succession and, noticing the goalie spent a lot of time on the ground blocking shots, Caroline Mahoney ’21 used her smooth flick shot to score our first goal six minutes in. DA continued to put pressure on Choate with center mid Emma Jaskolski ’20 controlling the ball, moving it out and up the sides to forward captains Dom Whitney ’19 and Jada Howard ’19. They carried the ball into the circle, executing shot after shot but ended the first half with a 1-0 lead. During the first half, Emma Jaskolski ’20 sprained her ankle and right forward Renee Ballou ’20 stepped up to lead the charge as center mid. The team came out with as much fire in the second half as they showed in the first, never letting up. Right back Alissa Zhang ’21 fed countless balls up to her right mid Daisy Dundas ’21, who used her strong stick skills and tenacity to carry the ball down the right side, sending through passes to captain Lucy Blake ’19. On one such breakaway, Lucy made a quick pass into the circle which Caroline Mahoney ’21 deflected right into the goal. Throughout the game, DA dominated with fierce free hits from center back Ellie Shilling ’21 that helped keep us on attack through much of the second half. After countless offensive corners and numerous shots on goal, Renee Ballou ’20 clinched the game, scoring her first goal of the season with an assist from Jada Howard ’19. Hooray for DA JV Field Hockey winning the first game on Choate Day 2018!