Moxie Picks Up 2nd Win

The Exeter girls’ field hockey team made the trip down to Cushing Academy this past Saturday. Earlier in the week, the girls lost a tough match to the very talented Governors team. Big Red picked up their second victory of the season with a 3-2 win over the home team and pointed their season back in the right direction.

The team started the game with fierce intensity and took the upper hand quickly. Exeter attacked the Cushing defense and got on the scoreboard first. Lower Catherine Griffin noted,  “Cushing had a couple of strong players but as a team they weren’t very strong defensively.” Exeter took advantage of this opportunity and extended their lead to 3-0 with a pair of goals from lowers Lydia Anderson and Griffin.

With a comfortable lead, Exeter eased off, and Cushing came roaring back into the competition. The girls’ lead quickly diminished as their opponents found the back of the net twice. Now only a one goal game, the girls picked up the pace and battled hard the rest of the game. In the end, Exeter was able to fend off Cushing’s comeback and stayed on top. Exeter’s offense is flourishing,  and has already scored multiple times this season.

“Cushing had a couple of strong players but as a team they weren’t very strong defensively.”

The productivity stems from the team’s ability to quickly pass the ball around and finding an open player to set up for a shot. This ball movement generates many good shots that challenge the opponent’s goal keeper. Similar to last week’s game, the girls used the aerial pass, which flicks the ball up in the air to another teammate, making it hard to defend.

Coach Elizabeth Hurley agreed that the team’s offense is stellar but added that the team’s defense, as a whole, is an area that they are looking to work on. She explained that the team,“started a new defensive set up, which all the girls are working hard on, but they still need to clean it up.” Hopefully, the team can master the new defensive and make it nearly impossible for their opponents to score.

Now that the season is well under way, the girls have truly united together as a team. Although the team’s goal is to improve their defensive unit as a whole, Senior Caroline Grace explained that each player on the team, “plans on improving [their] own individual defense skills.” The girls’ passion to improve their own skills for the greater good of the team will help them be even more successful. Big Red has back to back home games this week as they play the Winsor School on Wednesday and then Deerfield on Saturday. Even though Academy Life Day was this Monday, the team held a captain’s practice to make sure they would be ready for the upcoming games.

The last time Exeter played Deerfield the game ended in a 0-0 tie after overtime. The girls’ prolific offense should help them score against Deerfield this time and take home the win.