Deerfield’s season got off to a very promising start on Wednesday on Eagle Hill’s premier turf field surrounded by a panorama of scenic views of central Massachusetts in the twilight of summer. With team-first play, the Junior A squad maintained overwhelming pressure on the Pioneers from the first minute and kept the game on their half for most of the match. Rookie forward Ari Baharani ’29 got the scoring started ten minutes in and would also notch the first goal of the second half. At 17’, skilled returning attacker PJ Pirsch ’28 fed a great ball to striker Cole Higgins’ who made it 2-0 and would end with a hat trick, scoring his third goal in the game’s final seconds. Middies Vail Brokaw ’27 and Jose Fernandez Zambrano ’28 each used their great touch to set themselves up to score their first goals of the season. Captain Rich Zhou ’26 and Magnus Selvig ’26 set a great tone for the defense at center-back and Leos Jollon ’29 kept a clean sheet in his Deerfield debut at keeper, making an attention-grabbing one-on-one save that made the DA bench go wild. The mix of proven veterans and exciting additions to the team has the coaches’ predicting a successful and enjoyable season. Saturday brings Taft to the Valley for the home opener.