Field Hockey Ties Thayer Stays Above .500 on Season

EXETER - In the bright fall sun on Saturday, Big Red started out strong on Exeter’s turf against Thayer Academy. The two teams played a tight game, as Moxie was not able to complete many shots at goal because of Thayer’s skilled goalie. The game ended in overtime with a tie of 1-1 and pushed Moxie’s record to 8-7-1 for the season.With a loss to Middlesex the day before, the athletes were tired, but ready to work hard to chalk up another win for the season. Even though it was one of their better games, Moxie did not manage to get in the shots necessary to put them in the lead. The team started the game off with a lot of intensity, an impressive feat as slow starts have been the girls’ fatal flaw throughout the season.“We blended together and just stepped up our intensity as a team and moved the ball better than usual,” senior Charlotte Haslett said.The ball zoomed back and forth down the field the whole first half, and the game went into the second half with a score of 0-0. “Thayer was good. We started off well for the first time and were playing strongly, but then we lost a little momentum when they scored in the second half,” senior captain Hannah Wellington said.Determined to keep fighting, senior captain Helen Hultin scored a goal for Big Red with six minutes left on the clock. Hultin and fellow forward and senior Katy Kinnon had a great game, as they worked together to get the ball in the goal. On the other side of the field, Az Nalbandian played the whole game in the goal for the first time and had a few key saves that kept Moxie in the game.Neither team was able to break down the other’s defense during those last high-pressure six minutes to break the tie, so the game was pushed into overtime. “We played really well and had around fifteen shots on goal in overtime,” said Wellington, “We were really able to dominate even though we couldn’t capitalize.”Upper Kimberly Dawes mentioned the skill on Thayer’s side that the girls had to fight against. “Their goalie was really good and had a lot of impressive saves that we tied because of,” Dawes said.With one game left before E/a on Saturday and the much awaited game against Big Red’s rival, Moxie hopes that their streak of good play will continue throughout this next week. With a record of 8-7-1 and Andover’s varsity field hockey team’s at 10-2-1, it will be a tight game, but an exciting one.  Moxie is already getting pumped to get out of their slump of bad luck playing against Andover. The past three years, Moxie has played hard, taking Andover into overtime, but has lost once and tied twice.  The seniors are all ready to see their first win against Andover, and are well motivated to win, because for some, it is the last field hockey game that they will play. “Andover is pretty good this year, but we have had a couple of really good games, so I think we are pretty well prepared to play them,” Wellington said. “It will definitely be a tight game.”