On a beautiful Saturday, Girls Varsity Field Hockey traveled to Berkshire School for our first game of the season. Sage Piekarski ‘23 scored a quick goal in the first few minutes off of a penalty corner. Following this goal, it took a period for us to get back into the game, as Berkshire stepped it up and had multiple scoring opportunities. Berkshire answered back with a goal in the first quarter, and then found the back of the net again in the second quarter, bringing the score to 2-1. Deerfield gathered and refocused their efforts at the half, hoping to find the back of the net and control the pace of the game. The third quarter found us more spread out and using the width of the field, and Sage lifted the ball on a scramble in front of the goal to bring the score to 2-2. Deerfield kept working hard through the fourth quarter, but the score remained at 2-2 at the end of the game. As we headed into 7v7 overtime, the girls were ready to come out of the game with a win. Deerfield played beautifully right from the start and made great connections up and down the field. There were a few great saves from Lauren O’Donald ‘22 on our defensive end, and then 2:40 into OT, the ball was brought down the field and Sage found Maddy Zavalick ‘22 near the baseline for a beautifully placed goal that brought us a 3-2 victory over Berkshire School. Lauren O’Donald had some fantastic saves in every quarter, and anchored our defensive unit with her skills and effective communication. We are ready to start preparing for our game at Pomfret this Wednesday, September 22nd at 4:00pm.