Exeter 3   Deerfield 8
Deerfield, MA , Saturday, May 16th - Deerfield’s team was exactly as advertised. They were deep, athletic at every position very fast, big and strong, highly skilled, and well coached. Without a doubt, they looked deserving of their #1 rank in all of New England and their 8th ranking nationally. Given that Deerfield was playing at home and was coming off their only loss of the season, there was extra incentive to play well against Exeter. Exeter was determined not to be intimidated, to play with heart and intensity, and led by our captains Sam Gardner, Tyler Page, Matt Callahan, and Max Cassidy, the BIG RED did just that. Sam Gardner was playing in his first full game of the season after battling hamstring problems all year, and was heroic in defeat. Despite still not being 100%, Sam was assigned the task of marking Deerfield’s top attackman and high scorer. He not only limited his man to one assist for the entire day, but he elevated the play of the entire team defense, was a key on clearing the ball, and he also scored Exeter’s only goal of the first half after a full field clear, dodge, and shot. Exeter’s defense was severely tested and Sam along with long poles Matt Callahan, Alex Akoto, Matt Hatch, Jeff Reppucci, and short stick defenders Tom Jardine and Mike Sotak were more than up to the task. Goalie Tyler Page played his best game of the season with 16 saves overall and several of them of the spectacular variety. When the halftime horn sounded, it was Deerfield 2 and Exeter 1. No other team had limited Deerfield to just two halftime goals and a one goal halftime lead, but the offense was struggling against the tenacious Green defense. The young Exeter attack worked hard against the bigger and faster Deerfield defense, but quality shots were hard to generate and even controlling the ball at the offensive end for any length of time was a challenge in itself. Deerfield swarmed aggressively to the ball, slid quickly when it was passed, and was playing aggressive take-away lacrosse. Yet, with only 8 minutes left in the 3rd quarter, the game was still just 2-1. Exeter was tiring somewhat under the relentless pressure and a couple of penalties in the 3rd quarter hurt badly. Deerfield took advantage of the man-down situations and Exeter’s lack of offense and scored four 3rd quarter goals to take a 6-1 lead at the end of three periods. Patrick Johnson scored the first offensive goal of the game off a Charlie Gill assist to start the 4th quarter, but it stayed a 6-2 game until only six minutes were left. Deerfield and Exeter traded goals again to make it 7-3, and then Deerfield put a final tally into an empty net after an Exeter clearing mistake. The better team won this game, but Exeter did itself proud with their hard play and excellent defensive effort.

Team	1st quarter	2nd quarter	3rd quarter	4th quarter	Game Total
Exeter	0	1	0	2	3
Deerfield	1	1	4	2	8

Game Scoring - Goals - Gardner, Johnson, Sotak

                           Assists - Gill

Faceoffs Won/ Faceoff Attempted-Sotak 9/15

Saves/Shots on Goal - Page 16/24