Under a bright blue sky, Deerfield faced off against the Varsity Cougars in what is regularly the toughest game on the Thirds schedule. The Cardigan team came with its signature sound fundamentals and a roster both experienced and deep. That offered a productive challenge to a Deerfield squad that is still coming together. After allowing two shots on goal in the first 90 seconds, the DA defense–shorthanded by multiple injuries–locked in and prevented a third Cardigan shot for over 25 minutes. While the offense only mounted a couple challenges of its own, its decision-making showed marked improvement from the beginning of the season. Midfielder Rich Zhou ’26 served some great balls up to the front line, and forwards Vail Brokaw ’27 and Howard Jin ’27 hustled hard all game. Junior Teddy Gonzalez made a promising debut at center back and worked well with captain Owen Fleck ’26, who played almost the full 80 minutes for Deerfield. The team will take lessons from this loss into practice next week and prepare to bring its best game to Northfield Mount Hermon on Wednesday.