When everyone else was relaxing over break, the Girls’ Hockey team was hard at work, practicing and competing in the annual Taft tournament. Before the tournament, the ladies in Blue competed in a series of scrimmages against the AHS Warriors and the Maine Selects, shutting out both teams. With two handy victories under their belts, the girls headed south for Taft’s Patsy K. Odden Invitational Tournament. In their first game, Andover played against St. Paul’s School, and again the girls managed a shutout, this time 9-0. That evening, the girl’s met Loomis to vie for a place in the championship game. Andover drew first blood as PG Kate Leonard ’03 touched the puck past the Loomis goalie after a mere three minutes of play. Loomis quickly answered back, scoring with two minutes left in the period to tie things up. Andover’s rookie forward Julie Wadland ’06 scored the only goal in the second after the Loomis goalie coughed up a huge rebound on a shot. Things were looking good for the Big Blue, until a Loomis player skillfully slammed the puck past Andover goaltender, O’Hara Shipe ’04. The unexpected goal in the late in the third evened out the score. A shoot-out was called after a frustrated and scoreless five minutes of overtime. Loomis’ first four shooters were shut down by Shipe and Loomis’ goalie stopped the Big Blue’s first three. PA’s fabulous freshman defender Melissa Tetreau took the fourth shot for the Blue, scoring and earning Andover a place in the championship game. Having lost no games over break, Andover confidently entered into the tournament’s championship game. Andover squared off against one of New England’s best teams, the Tabor Academy Seawolves. After five minutes of play, a Tabor forward grabbed the puck out of the air and went into Andover’s defensive end on a breakaway. Despite a valiant effort on the part of Shipe, the puck found the back of the net, putting Tabor up 1-0. Andover fought hard over the next two and a half periods, but was not able to capitalize on any of the opportunities presented to them. The game concluded with a final score of 1-0 in favor of the Tabor Seawolves. This was the Big Blue’s first championship game at the prestigious Taft tournament in over a decade. After a restful Christmas break, the girls returned to 01810 to face New Hampton on home turf. After eight minutes of play, postgraduate sensation Kelly Lannan ’03 found the back of the net, putting in a pass from fellow PG Leonard. New Hampton capitalized on a power play late in the period to tie the score at 1-1. Wadland scored the game-winning goal after five minutes of play in the second, with the assists going to Taryn Zucker and Susannah Orzell ’03. Leonard scored with five minutes left in the second, giving the team some room to breathe, and Lannan sealed the Big Blue’s victory with a goal late in the third period. The Blue’s record currently stands at 5-2, and they have also tallied wins in both of their scrimmages. The Ladies in Blue have shown that they can play with the best of them and that they will not back down from a challenge. If they continue playing as they have been, the season should prove to be among the most successful in recent memory.
