Deerfield’s Thirds team faced a challenging and savvy team from NMH to secure a hard-earned draw. NMH scored its first goal 5 minutes in, forcing our team to reconsider its formation against a midfield-heavy opponent. While a reshuffled structure helped Deerfield fend off any more goals for the rest of the half, NMH was able to score another goal in the second half after several back-to-back saves from keeper Finn Knight ’25. However, Victor Kibuuka ’26 scored two impressive goals in the second half, thanks to several assists from teammates Luka Kokosadze ’25 and Leo Ma ’25. Solid defensive plays from Xavier Armas ’24 and Preyas Sinha ’24 helped hold off the team in the second half, as did midfield plays from Finn Knight ’25 and Matt Dillon ’23 (who, as a consistently excellent center back player, showed his worth in a new position). There were several nail-biting moments in the last five minutes when the score could have tipped in either direction. In one moment, Ryan Bai ’26 made a heart-stopping play to kick the ball out of our goal box. The thirds team should celebrate its ability to quickly adapt to the strategies of a tough opponent, which will serve us well as we go into our next home game against Wilbraham on Saturday.