Our second game of the season began with Deerfield ready to defend their home turf, while Taft was caught on their heels against Deerfield’s onslaught of offense. At the 3:00 mark Kiki Brainard ’22 ran the ball down, and kicked a beautiful cross-goal shot into the net, with the assist going to Whitney Vogt ’20. Taft fired back a few minutes later, with a high ball over our keeper, Greer Anderson’s ’22 head. Despite some good recoveries from our defense, especially Lindsay Carey ’23, Taft was able to double down on their goal scoring, knocking home another two goals in quick succession. Eve Andon ’23 and Emma Tennant ’21 had some great ball movement, and Kiki Brainard ‘22 couldn’t miss the net, firing home another goal to end the half 3-2.
The second half brought a renewed sense of purpose and energy. Kiki Brainard ‘22 and Caroline Hoff ’22 had some tic-tac-toe plays together, and a flurry of goals commenced. The first goal of the half went to Eve Andon ’23 off a pass from Caroline Hoff ’22. The next goal was a beautiful long ball by Emma Tennant ’21 off a pass from Eve Andon ’23. Emma Tennant ’21 found her sweet spot and tucked home another long outside ball to put Deerfield up by 2 goals. Taft wouldn’t go down without a fight, and though Greer Anderson ‘22 continued to gain confidence in net, Taft fired home three goals as the half wore on. Notably, Maddy Sofer ’21 tracked down some balls with her speed, and there was excellent defensive recovery from Samara Cummings ’20, Kristine Yang ’21, and Kat Hioe ’20.
Deerfield, however, didn’t give up. With four minutes left in the half, a great play from Caroline Hoff ’22 and Eve Andon ’23 allowed Mary Lee ’23 to tuck away the game tying goal. Despite Eve Andon’s ’23 breakaway shot, and Deerfield’s corner kick in the last minute of the half, we were unable to get the game winner. Deerfield ended the game on a high note though, winning the second half 4-2. There’s a lot of momentum carrying the Doors into the weekend match up against Pomfret!