Field Hockey Defeated by Deerfield 2-0

This past Saturday, Big Red Girls’ Field Hockey traveled to Deerfield, Mass. to take on the formidable Deerfield Doors. After playing an intense hour of field hockey, Big Red ultimately lost 2–0. Despite the loss, the team showed an impressive level of play.

Senior and co-captain Sophia Rosati was “perfectly fine with the outcome of the game”—last year, Girls’ Fhockey lost to Deerfield 4–1. According to Rosati, the narrower score margin this year is a sign that the team has improved.

Senior Jill Cloonan noted that along with the better score, she was impressed by her teammates’ work ethic. “Every player on the field was playing as hard as they could and the bench players were also very into the game,” she said.

Cloonan especially acknowledged lower Margaret Norsworthy-Edghill’s positive energy; while Norsworthy-Edghill was not on the field herself, she was “very enthusiastic on the bench [and] making sure everyone was bringing the intensity.”

Knowing that Deerfield was an impressive team going into the game helped Big Red get into the fighting mentality. Rosati was impressed that her team was able to, “stay collected throughout the game against a very tough team.”

One of the most notable standout performances came from upper Annie Smaldone between the pipes. Smaldone has a background playing ice hockey goalie in the winter; however, this is her first season as a field hockey goalie. Upper Tia Reaman said that Smaldone is already “a huge part of the team. Without her, the score would have been much worse.”

Rosati agreed, saying, “Annie made a countless number of saves and props to her for only letting in two goals which were very tough to defend. Deerfield was relentless in front of the net and Annie really held her ground.”

According to Cloonan, Exeter’s brilliant performance against Deerfield can, in large part, be credited to outstanding team spirit. “Every player before the game hypes their teammates up to make sure that everyone is excited to play as hard as they could,” Cloonan said.

Meanwhile, upper Haruka Masamura shouted out Cloonan and lower Molly Longfield for “pumping others up before games and practices,” but also “knowing when to take the sport seriously.”

Not only is the Field Hockey team close on the field, but they are also frequently spotted dining together in D-Hall. Longfield said, “I can rely on my teammates to be there for me if I ever need them—we are a family like that.”

Coming off of this exciting game, the future looks bright for the team. They are looking to turn their next game this Saturday against Nobles into another dub on their stat sheet. Rosati is confident that if the players show “the same work output” that they did during the Deerfield game, Big Red Fhockey will annihilate Nobles.