After pulling back into campus after midnight the night (morning?!) before, Deerfield Hockey knew that we would have to shake off tired legs in taking on Taft at home on Saturday afternoon. We had a great offensive first period, firing 16 shots on net and scoring twice. First, Mary Edmonds ‘19 sent a beautiful cross ice feed to Ellia Chiang ‘21 who tipped it into the net. Then, on the power play, Edmonds absolutely sniped a goal of her own, with assists going to Ali Fujiyoshi ‘19 and Deirdre Mullowney ‘19. Our fatigue was very evident in the second period, and we didn’t help ourselves by taking three penalties. Luckily, our PK units stepped up big time (great hustle by Edmonds, Christina Halloran ‘20 and Chiang in particular), and our power play struck again when Halloran finished off beautiful puck movement by Mullowney and Fujiyoshi. Halloran was a real work horse all weekend, and it was great to see her rewarded with a hard-earned goal! The third period was perhaps our best of the game: we played smart and simple hockey, and did a better job of getting bodies to the front of the Taft net. Our efforts were rewarded when Brianna Felice ‘21 (who also had a great weekend) drove out of the corner and got the puck to the net, where a crashing Haley Sundstrom ‘21 poked it home. Jordan Manning played very well in goal, earning the shutout with 18 saves, and Sundstrom was awarded the hard hat for her consistent energy and support of the defense all over the ice. This team showed a lot of grit today, and will enjoy a well-deserved day off tomorrow before getting back to work on Monday. Thank you to the Sundstroms for the sandwiches, fruit, drinks and goodies after the game.