As usual, the boys junior B footballers began the season with a good mix of new and returning players. The captains for this year’s team are Jack Keller ’26 and Emmett Aho ’27. The schedule includes many familiar opponents, although this is the first time in years that perennial nemesis Vermont Academy is absent.
The season kicked off with the first installment of the north Deerfield derby against the Bement School on September 17th at 3 pm on the south division. The day was unseasonably warm and sunny and with the recent conditions, the field was dry and fast. Led by braces from Harry Mitchell ’27 and Marshall Whalen ’29, Deerfield won 5-0 to start the season off on a high note. It didn’t take long for Deerfield to score the first goal of the season – in the 8th minute, Mitchell found the back of the net to put Deerfield up 1-0. While Bement had the better of the run of play for the rest of the 1st half and had several chances, the score remained 1-0 until the 35th minute when Whalen scored his first career goal to give Deerfield a bit of breathing room going into half-time. In the 2nd half, Deerfield quickly added two more goals, with Mitchell netting in the 40th minute and Whalen scoring again in the 44th minute. Alastair Ylvisaker ’28 added an insurance goal in the 62nd minute for the final margin. Bement nearly scored a brilliant goal late in the game, but the effort was fortunately turned away by the crossbar. The defense, led by returners Ryan Stenzler ’27 and Coleman Keller ‘28, played particularly well and allowed new keeper Desmond Drake ‘29 to get his first clean sheet of the season. With the win, the team begins the season 1-0 and will look to continue the momentum at home on September 20th against the Westminster School, with kickoff at 2 pm.