Moxie Clobbers Beaver Country Day
After some tough games over the past few weeks, Exeter field hockey, known as Moxie, added one more win in a successful match against Beaver Country Day School on Friday night, but lost to St. Paul’s School on Saturday. They won 5-0 on Friday and lost 1-6 on Saturday. The team will hopefully gain some positive momentum for the remaining two games of the season.
“We were able to focus on our passing and practice moving the ball around defensively, as well as our corners.”
As another week came to a close on Friday night, Moxie played an exciting game and found victory. All the players on the team competed well that night and made sure to come out strong from the beginning, even though Beaver Country Day School was not as tough a competitor. Upper and co-captain Hannah Littlewood, lower Jill Cloonan, lower Ally DeCoste and lower Sophia Rosati all scored goals within the first quarter and the team maintained its drive throughout the whole game.
According to upper Jane Collins, everyone was ready for the game and upper Gracie Goodwin gave strong offensive pressure throughout the match, even though she usually plays defense. “We were able to focus on our passing and practice moving the ball around defensively, as well as our corners,” she said.
Upper and co-captain Catherine Griffin agreed with the success of the game and explained that it was also a way for the players to practice the skills they have been working on. “I think that we did a great job of taking advantage of the opportunity to practice our back passes. They weren’t considered a tough opponent, but we wanted to work on passing skills anyways,” she said.
Saturday’s game against St. Paul’s School proved to be more difficult. Earlier on in the season, Moxie played a close game against them, ending with a loss of 1-2. Moxie knew that St. Paul’s was a strong team and hoped it would be able to secure a victory in its second game against the opponent.
Despite the loss, players on the team played their best and made sure not to lose their stamina and determination. In addition, Moxie was at a disadvantage in the beginning, playing on the turf of another school. “Playing on their turf was a challenge because we weren’t used to the texture of their field, but we adapted quickly and used a lot of hard drives,” she said.
With the end of the season nearing, the team hopes to finish strong in its last few home games. According to Griffin, the team plans to focus on bridging gaps between the team’s midfield and offense, specifically for the game on Wednesday against Kimball Union Academy.
The team will play against Kimball Union Academy on Wednesday and Andover on Saturday. Littlewood noted that the team is ready to come out strong and finish with a victory during E/A. “I think that the team is looking forward to coming out with a different result this year. With the memory of that loss from last year, everyone is pretty hungry to beat Andover this year. I’m sure it will be another close and competitive game and those are always the best to play in,” she said.