On a cold rainy day, Andover made the trek to Deerfield to face off against a JV team that was missing five players from its roster. Despite the short bench and the weather, Deerfield was in high spirits and ready to play. Unfortunately, Andover capitalized on a chance in the first minute by taking advantage of a fast break, gaining an immediate 1-0 lead. The vast majority of the half was played in the midfield. Kiki Brainard ’22 and Claire Ott ’20 made some great offensive runs, but the Doors weren’t able to generate many shots on goal. Our defensive unit made some stellar plays and worked hard to limit Andover shots on net. Toward the end of the half, Greer Anderson ’22, the keeper, made a great saves, but unfortunately Andover scored one more before the buzzer, putting them up at the half 2-0.
The second half, the rain picked up, and Deerfield was on the defensive immediately. The short bench and chilly conditions started to wear on the team, and we lost some offensive momentum, but defensively, were very strong. With 28 minutes left in the half, Andover got on the board again with a long ball, and then scored again to make it 4-0 with 13 minutes remaining. Deerfield remained positive, and worked hard until the last whistle, which was really impressive. In fact, they continued to get better as a team as the half wore on. Towards the end, there were some great passes, and drives down the field. Eve Andon ’23 exemplified that by blocking a pass from an Andover defensive player, and then getting a fast break, beating three defenders with her speed, and getting a great goal with 5 minutes remaining. Deerfield ended the game on a really positive note, and then went inside to warm up.