After thrashing Kimball Union 8-0 on Saturday, the Girls’ Varsity Hockey team came out for Wednesday’s game looking for revenge against Tabor Academy. The Seawolves defeated the Blue 1-0 in the championship game of the Taft tournaments this winter and the girls haven’t forgotten this heartbreaking loss. Before taking on Tabor the girls faced off against Kimball Union at home last Saturday. KUA’s goalie had a tough game, as her efforts were not enough to stop the Blue from delivering an 8-0 beating to her team. During the early part of the first period, Andover controlled the play in their offensive zone, but was frustrated as the KUA goalie turned away many quality shots. Eight minutes into the game, Lower Lindsay Baker ’05 scored her first varsity goal after a scramble in front of the net. On the next face off, fellow lineman Julie Wadland ’06 found herself in front of an open net and put the puck away, giving the Blue a 2-0 lead. The second period was a scoring bonanza as the Blue took 14 shots and put the biscuit in the basket four times. PG Alix Warren ’03 and Kate Leonard ’03, both of whom have been powerful players for the Blue this season, scored two goals apiece. The Blue continued to dominate play during the third period, but only found the net twice. After five minutes of play, Leonard wound up and found the net for her third goal of the evening, giving her the all-illusive hat-trick. Not to be out done, Warren grabbed the puck a minute latter and added another goal to the tally, grabbing her own hat trick and sealing the deal by a score of 8-0. The outcome of the game was commendable, but even more noteworthy was the effort that the team put into it. While clearly the superior team, the Blue never let down and played hard to the end. As Marissa Hudson ’04 put it, “We played our game and didn’t let down even after we scored a few goals. We kept the intensity up and finished the game well.” This intensity will serve the Blue well in the future. The Blue was fired up for their rematch with the Tabor Seawolves. The Blue let the Seawolves control the game during the first period as Tabor out-shot the Blue 8-5. Halfway into the second period, the Blue took the lead with two phenomenal goals from Lindsay Moramarco ’06. Captain Taryn Zucker ’03 and Susannah Orzell ’03 assisted the first of her goals. Orzell also had the assist on Moramarco’s second goal, which came less than ten seconds after her first. Tabor narrowed the Blue’s lead to one with a scored late in the period. After ten minutes of play, Kelly Lannan’03 secured the win for the Blue, putting the puck in the back of the net. The Blue gave up one more goal to the desperate Seawolves, but held strong for the win. Coach Martha Fenton expressed her pleasure with Wednesday’s win saying, “This was the kind of win we needed… we were able to take the lead and keep it with a great team effort. Tabor challenged us right to the end, but the team played a smart, aggressive game to win it.” Wednesday’s win was a real morale booster for the Blue. With several tough games coming up in the near future, the Blue has picked a good time to turn up the intensity. This evening, the girls face NMH away before hosting Nobles next Wednesday at 3:30 in what promises to be one of their most challenging games of the season.
