Deerfield Girls Varsity Hockey opened the season with a home game against St. Mark’s. With only 10 skaters available to play, our fitness and grit were certainly tested, and we settled for a 2-2 tie. Annie Dinges ‘24 opened the scoring as she finished off a rebound from a Grace Dumond ‘22 shot. Tired legs and sloppy play led to two St. Mark’s goals in the second period, and we headed into the final frame down by 1. The team showed tremendous heart and resolve, however, and the third period was our best of the game. After coming close on a number of occasions, Mia Goetzke ‘24 finally tied the score in the final minutes with an extra attacker on the ice (Dinges earned the assist). Neither team converted in overtime, and so the game ended in a 2-2 tie. Grace Caliguri ‘22 was strong in goal in her first DA start, making a few key saves when our coverage broke down. Sara Robert ‘22 was the obvious recipient of the hard hat today; she selflessly switched positions to give us 4 defensemen, and played hard, smart and team first hockey all afternoon long. We will hope to have a longer bench when we take on Loomis on Wednesday!