The winter season at Deerfield is a long one, but many teams have one particular game that carries a significant amount of excitement. Whether that game is for a trophy or a New England title, this one game often represents more than just a game. For the girls varsity hockey team, that game was played against Pomfret School for the coveted Hastings Cup. This year, on January 25th, Deerfield won 7-1 to take home the Cup for the second year in a row.
Playing for the Hastings Cup has been a tradition between Pomfret and Deerfield for seven years. Named after Brad Hastings, this cup has served to honor Hastings for his contributions to both Pomfret and Deerfield girls hockey teams. In his role of Dean of Students at Deerfield in 1979, Hastings elected to coach the girls hockey team during the Academy’s second year of coeducation. Mr. Hastings served in this role until leaving Deerfield to become Head of School at Pomfret in 1991. He was also the first girls hockey coach at Pomfret.
The Hastings Cup fosters a healthy rivalry between the two schools and has helped drive a high intensity game for the past seven seasons. Deerfield has won the cup for the past two years, while Pomfret won the two before that. The two schools are relatively even in their Hastings Cup winning records, and this even pairing lends itself to more competitive play throughout the game.
“The Hastings Cup has become one of those games that we get excited about because we know that there is something more to play for than just the game itself,” commented Deerfield girls varsity hockey Coach Genevieve Pitt. Similarly to the annual Choate game, the Hastings Cup has become a big tradition to look forward to for the girls.
During the game, the girls kept their composure and played until the last buzzer.
That high intensity level of play was “motivated by wanting to win the Cup and maybe even more so not wanting Pomfret to win the Cup on their home ice,” said Coach Pitt. Winning this game, along with many others this season has shown that the girls “want to win no matter what,” Coach Pitt stated. “This group is a really dedicated, really committed group.” Both the girls and Coach Pitt are looking forward to a strong end to the season.