On Saturday morning, Deerfield took the long journey up to bucolic Canaan, New Hampshire, to face off against their toughest opponent, Cardigan Mountain School. The scoreboard tells the story of the Cougars’ talented roster of soccer specialists, including a notable forward who put on an eye-popping performance, scoring almost all their goals with his powerful deep shot. But Deerfield rode home with plenty to feel good about. They outshot Cardigan for the first time in at least a decade, and they controlled possession and held momentum for the middle forty minutes of the game, punctuated by the beautiful finish of left forward Isaac Shobola ’27 off a perfect cross by middle Jack Zhunio ’27. Ironically, rookie keeper Jerry Du ’27 had his best game of the season, consistently making smart decisions and a couple highlight-worthy saves. Door of the Week Sammy Sullivan ’25 and his fellow center-back Nick Smiarowski ’26 played nearly the whole game and repeatedly took the air of the tires of Cardigan drives and got the Deerfield offense back to work with strong kicks up the field. Michael Hioe ’27 and Gersham Munene ’27 used speed and heads-up play to pin Cougar wings to the touch line and force turnovers. Tommy Govi ’26 continued his promising development at holding midfielder after stepping into that position of the first time last week. The offense, while still coming together, showed flashes of its great potential with the breakaway speed of Shobola on the wing and the talented touch of Victor Kibuuka ’26 and Jeremy Tadesse ’27 at striker. The team chemistry continues to be a source of pride for its coaches, who congratulate their players for incurring no penalties (except one unlucky handball) and earning praise from the refs for their professionalism on the pitch. Deerfield hopes to apply lessons learned in this match on Wednesday, when they welcome Northfield Mount Herman for their annual contest.