Sports

Water Polo Takes Williston

The waves were up and down for the Blue Water Polo team this past weekend. Playing in a mini-tournament, the boys tallied a 13-9 comeback win over Williston, but dropped a 7-2 game to Hotchkiss. The mini-tournament was designed to determine the teams that would advance to the final tournament of the four best teams in the league. In order to get invited to the tournament the Boys had to beat Hotchkiss, a formidable opponent that Andover had never played before. The Big Blue hopped in the pool with great enthusiasm and was ready to complete their season with a big win. As the game advanced, Hotchkiss slipped in a few goals during moments of lapse by PA. At halftime Hotchkiss led Andover 4-0, but the Boys were not about to give up. In the third quarter, Andover started their comeback and deposited two carefully orchestrated goals into the back of the Hotchkiss net. Unfortunately, Hotchkiss also was able to sneak in two goals of their own, making the score 6-2 at the start of the fourth quarter. A comeback was still possible, and the boys denied any thoughts of losing. Though something about the day was not right, as Andover allowed one last goal to blow by into their net, making the score 7-2 at the game’s end. Disheartened, the boys climbed out of the pool to ready themselves for the next game against Williston. The wing shooters in PA’s man-up offense, Neuwirth and Morse, were not hitting their marks, as at least six man-up scoring opportunities were thrown away. This came as a great frustration to the water polo team, as they pride themselves on their assured scoring ability in man-up situations. The loss to Hotchkiss closed PA’s chances to enter the final-four tournament, so their next game did not matter in terms of rank in the league. The boys were going in the water for purposes of retribution. Williston proved to be a solid adversary, keeping the score even at 9-9 by the end of the third quarter. Andover then turned on the afterburner and scored four consecutive goals in the fourth quarter, leaving Williston’s hope of winning trampled. The win against Williston removed the chip off the shoulder of the Water Polo team.