A defensive win today, thanks to senior captains Maddie Benello and Coco de Vink, ably interchangeable at center back and sweep, keeping the backfield coordinated. Initially, the pitched grass field (fairly shaggy, definitely slow) baffled our good intentions, but as frustrating—and slow—as a grass field can be, it also teaches strength, patience, and the need for both good communication and good positioning, all of which we worked hard at all afternoon, spirits never flagging. (One of our surest strengths as a team has got to be our positivity.) Across much of the game, Loomis held us to their strong side/our weak side, and though we never quite turned the tide to make comfortable space for our own offensive game, we did start strong: in the first few minutes of the game Campbell Fealy ’24 at center forward put a decisive ball in the cage. Then Loomis promptly tied it up before the end of the first half. In the 48 minutes of total play, we earned a handful of offensive corners, but spent much of our energy, and time, fending off Loomis attacks, and defending plenty of their corners. Notable good performances on offense came from Brooke Stroh ’24 and Casey Kittredge ’25 (great movement up the field and effective ball-carrying), and on defense from Josephine Cramer ’23 and Leela Portny ’25 (always fighting). Both goalies worked super hard, especially Juliet Amadeo ’24 in the final minutes of the second half. Officially a tie, surely a defensive win.