Sports

Field Hockey Slips by Tabor

The Andover Girls Field Hockey team seems to be making a habit of these late game comebacks. Aside from the extra stress on the players, fans and coaches that these last minute wins have caused, the girls really do not mind, provided the wins keep piling up. The Lady Blue came from behind to beat Tabor last Saturday and continued their season with a last minute tie against St. Marks. The girls began slowly on Saturday, as Tabor scoring early in the game. Kat Conlon ’04 countered, bringing the score to 1-1. Tabor’s offense was too much for the Lady Blue, and they the Seawolves returned with a second goal to put themselves back in the lead. Starting off down 2-1 at the half, Conlon led the girls by tying up the score four minutes into the second half off an assist by Lindsay Moramarco ’06. With a mere fifteen minutes remaining, Conlon netted another goal to pull Andover into a 3-2 lead, scoring her third goal of the game and bagging her first hat trick of the season. In the second half, Andover brought up the pace of play. After a rousing half time pep talk, the girls were prepared to take back the lead. The defense seemed more focused, only allowing one shot on goalie Sam Demetriou ’05. The girls worked to stop Tabor’s dangerous breakaway attempts and just focused their energies on reclaiming their lost goals. Coach Kate Dolan said, “The half-time break gave Andover a change to regroup and reenergize and the girls played a much stronger second half.” Dolan continued, “In the first half our defense had trouble matching Tabor’s offense, but in the second half they stepped up and came back to win.” The leading scorer, Conlon, highlighted the success of the whole team, “We have an amazing ability to play hard the whole game.” Conlon continued to say, “It’s through teamwork that we have had our success. Even though I scored three goals, it was because of the rest of the team. There were some amazing passes that led to my goals, especially those by Marissa and Lindsay. Our team works well together and always hustles the opponents until the end of the game. We just don’t give up.” Playing St. Marks, the girls were prepared for a tough game. The girls were evenly matched, and the St. Mark’s defense was able to fight off the Andover offense for most of the game. Down 0-1, Conlon took a free hit just outside the circle to Natasha Pakravan ’04 who passed the ball off to captain Marissa Hudson ’04. Hudson, working quickly with two minutes left in the game, took a shot on the St. Mark’s goalie to tie up the game and continue Andover’s undefeated season. Even though the girls were behind, they were confident. As Captain Hudson remarked, “We were off to a shaky start at first, but in the second half we came back. We’ve come back from losing in the past, so we knew we could do it and we just kept putting the pressure on.”