Fall Sports Field Hockey Sports

Batchelor ’19 Scores Game Winner In Defensive Battle Against Deerfield

Sprinting away from Deerfield defenders, Emily Batchelor ’19 capitalized on a rebound from an unsuccessful shot by Jacqueline Diffley ’16 to score Andover Field Hockey’s winning goal on Saturday.

After beating Deerfield 1-0, Andover went on to tie Noble & Greenough (Nobles) 1-1 in overtime on Wednesday, bringing its record to 10-2-2.

In its back and forth struggle for control of the ball against Deerfield, Andover had difficulty finding scoring opportunities throughout the game.

Alex Kim ’17 said, “Deerfield was a really hard game for us. We had zero corners compared to their eight. So we were trying to score because it was 0-0 for a long time, but at the same time, we also had to be cognizant of their offense and always be ready to play defense.”

Despite the strength of its competition, Andover emerged the victor by successfully maneuvering the ball on offense and remaining determined throughout the game.

Batchelor said, “What worked well were offensive fast breaks. We would put the ball to open space, and someone could run into it. Our strengths of the game also included applying pressure to the ball on their free hits and running onto the ball well. Also, we spread ourselves out on the field a little more and saw the space better.”

Sarah Rigazio ’18 added, “We worked together as a unit and were able to use teammates and the open space to move the ball really well. On offense, we were working really hard. Deerfield was a really good team, but Saturday we played really tough and were able to outmuscle them. Our hustle and toughness won the game.”

In its game against Nobles on Wednesday, Andover roared off to a strong start and secured a 1-0 lead 12 minutes into the first half with a goal from Diffley.

Ashley Tucker ’18 said, “I thought we came out strong, especially since in our game against Deerfield it took us a while to get a shot and score.”
In the second half, however, Nobles scored to tie the game at 1-1. Andover’s offense had trouble creating shooting opportunities, and as a result, the team failed to answer with a second goal of its own.

“Later on in the game we were having trouble getting the ball into the circle and generating chances,” said Tucker.

Despite the eventual tie in overtime, Andover applauded the energy it showed throughout the entirety of the game.

Captain Kelly McCarthy ’16 said, “Something that we always strive for is to play a full 60 minute game, and [Head Coach Kate Dolan] came back to us at the end of the game and said, ‘We didn’t just play 60 minutes, we played 70,’ which I thought was a really good way to wrap up the game. We just gave it our all for the whole game – the intensity was definitely there. It was a lot of fun to play in [the game] because of that.”

After two challenging games this week, Andover looks forward to its game against Cushing on Saturday at Phelps Stadium.