The boys junior B footballers faced their biggest obstacle so far this season, sending out a depleted squad against the Westminster School during Family Weekend on October 5th. With nearly half of the team out, Quad Squad alum Max Ng ’27 rejoined the team and made a big impact in the team’s 2-0 win on a beautiful fall afternoon. The win raised the team’s record to 6-0 on the season, with two of those wins coming against Westy.
With only one sub on the bench, fitness was a big factor – especially considering that Westy nearly had a second full team on their bench. While Deerfield controlled much of the play in the 1st half and kept the ball off their half of the field, they were unable to score and the match remained 0-0 nearly until the end. Finally, in the 29th minute, Ng found the back of the net with a rising rocket, with an assist from Marty Rodriquez Pastor ’28, to get the home team on the board, 1-0.
Unlike many of the games this season, the opposition were able to get off some shots of their own and they nearly equalized just after half-time. In the 32nd minute, one of their shots eluded keeper Magnus Selvig ’26, but bounced harmlessly off the outside of the post. As the half wore on, the lack of subs began to take a toll on Deerfield and Westy were able to control more of the ball and take a few more shots. Clinging to the one-goal lead and rapidly running out of gas, snake-bitten Emmett Aho ’27 finally broke his season-long curse and redirected a corner kick into the back of the net in the 56th minute to give the hosts a more solid 2-0 lead. The defense held up for the last few minutes and Deerfield escaped with their 6th win of the season. Quad Squad won’t be back in action for nearly two weeks, with their next match on October 16th against Avon Old Farms on the lower fields at 3:15.