On Wednesday, spring sunshine filled the sky and the cheers from excited fans enjoying long-awaited spring home games propelled the Deerfield girls’ varsity teams to home game perfection, recording 4 out of 4 victories on the day.
Girls varsity water polo led the way as they defeated Loomis 13-8. Varsity softball got out to an early lead against Worcester and sealed the victory by a score of 10-9. Girls varsity lacrosse jump ahead to a commanding lead against Andover and outscored the Big Blue 15-7. Girls varsity tennis completed the day by defeating visiting Westminster, 6-3. Impressive victories for all!
Girls Varsity Water Polo vs. Loomis: Win 13-8
The Big Green outscored the Pelicans 6-1 in the first quarter catapulting them to a 5-goal lead. Loomis closed the gap in the second quarter edging the Big Green 4-3, but it wasn’t enough as DA won the third period 3-2 and tied the final frame 1-1 to secure the 13-8 victory.
Maddie Clough recorded a team-high of eight goals and Niki Pelletier added another four goals while Shenika Shi added a lone-goal in the victory. On the defensive end of the pool, Doris Zhang and Sydney Bluestein shared goalie responsibilities posting a total of 5 saves collectively. With yesterday’s win, the girls water polo team improves to 3-2 on the season. The Big Green will welcome Williston to the Koch Pool this Saturday, April 14 at 3:00pm for their second of five consecutive home games.
Varsity Softball vs. Worcester: Win 10-9
Deerfield softball hosted Worcester in its home opener. The team jumped out to an early 8-1 lead by taking advantage of Worcester’s errors in addition to capitalizing on each hit and getting extra bases. Although Worcester crept back with strong hitting, Deerfield was able to hold them off in a true team win. Everyone on the field contributed to the win whether it was Meaghan O’Brien’s great performance on the mound, Mia Burch’s bombs to left, or Suzy Mazur’s clutch bunt, everyone contributed to the team’s win. The team will return to action this Saturday, April 14 at 3:30pm as they welcome rival Choate.
Girls Varsity Lacrosse vs. Andover: Win 15-7
Deerfield came away with a 15-7 victory in their home opener against Andover. The Big Green came out flying and scored a flurry of goals in the opening minutes. Our offensive connections were sharp, and several transitional scoring opportunities presented themselves over the course of the first half. It was nice to see distributed scoring between 6 players, and just under half the goals were assisted. Our defense remained firm, and Andover was held to only 2 goals in the first half. The captains named Bailey Cheetham as the Give More player of the game for her hustle and impact on both ends of the field. Bailey also had 3 goals on the day. On Saturday, April 14 the team will travel to Wallingford, CT for a 3:30pm game vs. the Choate Wild Boars.
Girls Varsity Tennis vs. Westminster: Win 6-3
Girls varsity held their long-awaited home opener against visiting Westminster. The team fought hard at every position to deliver a 6-3 victory. The score may make the match seem like a comfortable win, but that success was not easily earned. Many of these matches were hotly contested every step of the way by stiff competition from Westminster. Deerfield found itself in a hole after dropping two of the three doubles points. The team held together and rose to the challenge, winning five of the six singles points to secure the victory.
The first doubles pair, Ashley and Tori, fell behind early with Westy getting up 6-2 in the eight-game pro set. To their credit, Deerfield’s ladies found the grit necessary to pull even and force a tiebreaker at eight all. Ultimately, Westminster’s first doubles pair logged a win 8-6 in the tie-break. Sophia Genender and Emma Weech found their rhythm at second doubles, winning 8-4. Good things happen when these two settle into a match. Westminster took the third doubles set decisively, 8-1. At first singles, Ashley Manning put forth a heroic effort to score the W for Deerfield. Overcoming seriously tough breaks and a fair share of adversity, Ashley went the distance with her Westminster opponent and won in a third set tiebreaker, 10-7. Emma Weech put together a commanding performance at second singles, dispatching her singles opponent in two decisive sets. Sophia Genender had a thriller of a match at third singles. Both sets were back and forth affairs. Sophia dug in and refused to back down winning both sets: 7-7(7-5) and 7-5. Tori Waterfall continued her winning ways at fourth singles and picked up speed as the day went on. Her match was highlighted by steady baseline play and excellent strategy. She picked up the win 6-4, 6-1. Claire Koeppel’s fifth singles match was a three-set heartbreaker. She fought hard and traded 6-4 sets with her opponent in a well-matched contest. The third set tiebreaker went to Westminster by the fittingly tight score of 10-8. Closing out singles was Adeliza Grace with a decisive 6-1, 6-1 win. The team won on the scorecard but more importantly demonstrated integrity on a day marked by intense competition. The team looks to an away match with The Taft School this Saturday at 3:30 pm in Watertown, CT.
Wednesday was a great day for the Big Green as Deerfield teams were 10-2 overall against their opponents! Spring teams will return to action this Saturday, April 14, visit the Athletics Schedule for the complete calendar of games.