On Saturday December 10th the boys JV hockey team travelled to Wallingford Connecticut to take on rival Choate. Just the night before the team had won a 6-2 contest against a team from Montreal, Selwyn House School. The boys were feeling good and excited about their two-day hockey extravaganza and the energy level in the locker room pre-game was at a high level.
Will Scharfenberger got the start between the pipes for Big Green and right away he would be tested by the Choate players. After the 1st period it would be 1-0 in favor of the host team. Billy Weller would notch the equalizer mid-way through the second period and it was at this point in the game when Deerfield really started putting on the pressure to score more goals.
Unfortunately, just as the momentum had shifted our way Leo Ma drew a 5 – minute major penalty for boarding. This gave Choate a non-releasable penalty and an opportunity to score for a longer period of time than the usual. The solid defensive play by Gisonni, Callender, Woytowicz, Fleck, Lapham and Belaire combined with stellar play from goalie Will Scharfenberger kept Choate off the board for most of the penalty. It wasn’t until the last minute of the penalty that Choate was able to score and go up by a 2-1 margin.
Big Green was determined not to drop a game so the players went to work. In the third period Deerfield outshot Choate by a 23 – 5 margin. Finally, with just under 5 minutes remaining in the game Felix Rockefeller found the back of the net tying the score at 2-2. For those remaining minutes and a 5 – minute overtime period it was all Deerfield. Shot after shot was turned away by the outstanding Choate goaltender. At the final buzzer the score stood at 2-2.
Disappointed, but proud of their effort the Deerfield team learned lots about themselves and what to be working on. They’ll be ready for the next game – Winchendon on Wednesday and then the Holiday break!