Girls' Lacrosse Upsets Deerfield Academy, 15-9
Big Red girls’ lacrosse destroyed Deerfield Academy 15-9 on Saturday. Exeter rose to the occasion to beat a Deerfield team that has beat them each of the last two years and 5 of the last 7. The team now sits at 10-4 on the season and is looking to secure their best regular season record since 2011.
Knowing this game would be a test, the girls completely prepared mentally. “Everyone was really nervous about the game and we went out ready to kill them,” lower Josie Russ said. The team did exactly that, playing one of their all-around best games of the year. “We just wanted it more than them, simple as that,” lower Noa Siegel said.
Upper Elsa Chinburg scored right out of the gates for Big Red, pumping up the team and swinging momentum in their favor right away. Exeter took an early three goal lead, but Deerfield quickly came back and made it close at halftime, cutting the lead to two. Neither team was able to pull away until Big Red blew the game open toward the end of the second half behind more great play from Chinburg, lower Jacie Lemos, upper Marley Jenkins and goalie Kat Racine.
The key to the win was holding to the team’s motto “Full 50.” “I think one of the keys to our win was that even though there were times where Deerfield came back a little, we kept our intensity up and didn't get down on ourselves,” prep Bella Edo said. The team hardly faltered throughout the game, staying motivated and playing well as a team all the way through.
The team shined on both ends of the field. “Our attack was really patient under their defensive press, and that threw them off a little. We also had good draw control against their 6'2" center, which was awesome,” lower Holly MacAlpine said. Racine also was huge for the team, making key stops down the stretch.
Deerfield’s 6’2” center was the biggest threat and worry for Big Red. “She is well known for winning all of the draw controls, she was really intimidating,” Lemos said, “But we were able to step up and win most of the draws which was really important. Alyssa [Heinze], Marley [Jenkins] and Bronwyn [Shields] did a great job getting us the ball off the draw.”
The win was a huge confidence boost due to the team’s lack of recent success against Deerfield. “We have been an underdog team all season and we love that. After this win we know that we can compete with anyone which is a great mindset for our last two games,” Siegel said.
After beating one of the teams biggest rivals, they have swung the momentum back in their favor heading into Andover. The team will play Big Blue on Friday night with hopes to beat an Andover squad they have not beaten in 5 years.