The Middlesex Zebras opened their season hosting Class A rival, Deerfield. While the Zebras held a slight lead for much of the contest, the teams were evenly matched.
Deerfield scored 4:40 into the contest, but the Zebras answered 2:00 minutes later for the equalizer. The Middlesex defensive unit, led by junior Beeko and senior Giules, made several key plays to hold off Deerfield scoring opportunities. The offense however, struggled to gain momentum against a tenacious Deerfield defense anchored by solid goaltending. Finally, the Zebras fell into a rhythm on attack and found the back of the net four times in less than 5:00 minutes to take a 6-2 lead. The Big Green refused to back down however, and took advantage of some defensive missteps to cut the Zebra lead to 6-4 at the half.
In the second half, Deerfield made the game interesting by scoring first, bringing the contest to 6-5. The teams traded goals from 16:00 minutes to 14:00 minutes, with the Zebras taking a two-goal lead (8-6) with 14:09 remaining. The play went back-and-forth for the next 8:00 minutes with terrific goalie saves and defensive plays at both ends of the field. Deerfield, finally broke through the stalwart Zebra defense with 6:52 remaining, but Middlesex refused to give up the lead, scoring again a minute later. The Big Green made their final tally of the afternoon to bring the score to 9-8 with 2:53 remaining and then had possession with less than a minute left on the clock. Beeko came up with a huge save, but the ball was lost on the clear and Deerfield had one final chance to force the game into overtime. The ball was passed to the middle, but in an athletic maneuver, Beeko intercepted the pass and held onto the ball while the time expired to secure the Middlesex win.
The Zebras will open their league play when they travel to Concord, NH to face the Pelicans of St. Pauls on Wednesday, April 10.
