On a picturesque autumnal afternoon in the Valley surrounded by visiting families, Deerfield notched their seventh win of the season in an exciting match against an athletic and skilled Eaglebrook team. Missing four regulars from their roster, the Junior A squad was ready to showcase its depth, though a fast-break goal from EBS in the fifth minute followed by 27 minutes of scoreless play may have disguised for some onlookers the considerable talent of that depth. What the coaches saw was a team having a little trouble executing but mostly adhering to the plan that has brought them success all season. Defensive wizardry from captain Rich Zhou ’26, supported by fellow senior Ted Gonzalez and standout rookies Nico Idehen ’29 and Charlie Juhas ’29, muted Eaglebrook’s drives and let the attack get clear. With three minutes left in the half, first-year forward Ari Baharani poked a ball under the keeper, knotting up the match and tallying his sixth goal of the season. Lots of good ideas circulated during the huddle, and the coaches started the second half by testing out two defensive stalwarts at attacking midfield. That move paid immediate dividends, first with Door of the Week Justin Treyz ’29 sending a thunderous shot to the top left corner three minutes into the half. Just three minutes after that, his new midfield complement, Jasper Gruhl ’28, served up a great ball to the dangerous head of Cole Higgins ’26 for the striker’s 17th goal of the year. With the crowd now fully convinced of the team’s prowess, the offense put on a show when Matthew Susanto, typically a winger who was helping out at fullback, sent a cross to Higgins who smartly tapped it over to winger Howard Jin who drove it in. Deerfield ended up scoring four times in 13 minutes when Treyz, displaying more of his heads-up heroics, delivered a perfectly placed cross to Jin, whose positioning was excellent all match. The many Eaglebrook families in attendance got to cheer when their team scored on an unstoppable free kick that made the match 5-2. The next goal on Deerfield’s to-do list is securing a winning season, which they’ll aim to cross off when they head to Easthampton to face off against Williston on Wednesday.