Sports

Boys Lacrosse Pops Pomfret in OT

After dropping a game to Choate on Saturday, the Andover Boys Varsity Lacrosse team bounced back to take down Pomfret School in overtime. This past Saturday the Andover Boys Lacrosse team faced Choate Rosemary Hall. After a long bus ride, the team got off to a slow start and found itself down four goals after the first half. With help from coaches John Dugan and Leon Modeste, the Big Blue was able to identify its problems and come out strong for the second half. During the second half, Cotton Harrold ’04 and Pat Shannon ’05 picked up the team with several solid clears. Captain Tom Barron ’04 utilized these clears, directing the offense and creating looks in addition to scoring a goal and assisting another. Sam Kennedy ’05 also played a solid game on offense, getting after ground balls and scoring a goal of his own. Goalie Matt Smith ’04 played a phenomenal game between the pipes. He was a key factor in keeping Andover in the game, directing the defense and stopping shots like a wall. With two minutes left, Andover scored to drop Choate’s lead to one. Andover was able to possess the ball again with a minute left, but could not come up with a look at the cage. Choate walked away with a 9–8 victory. Heeding Coach’s advice and following two hard practices, the team felt prepared for its next match against Pomfret School in Pomfret, CT. The boys got off the bus early this time, scoring first against Pomfret’s red defense. Captain Barron said, “On the bus ride to the game, I was unsure of the team’s attitude. The Freshmen were busy loading the bus, the Lowers were busy flicking their hair and not paying attention, one even showed up late – and he was flipping his hair -, the Uppers were busy thinking about their work, and the Seniors were swell. Surprisingly we were able to get off the bus and get organized. We ran an efficient warm up and seemed ready to play.” As the game progressed, the Big Blue was continually called for penalties. The referees kept a very tight ship, calling penalties much more frequently than usual. At the end of the game, Andover had played down one man a total of fourteen times, on six of which Pomfret capitalized. Andover had dug itself into a two goal deficit heading into the fourth quarter, but came back to force overtime despite a slew of penalties. Hungry for a win, Captain Barron took charge, scoring the goal that won it for his team. Captain Barron said afterwards, “Thanks to the support of our managers, encouragement and intensity from Coach Mo and from Coach Dugan, and a solid final effort we were able to pull through in overtime. This allowed us to enjoy the bus ride home, the lowers still flicking their hair, Coach Mo happy daring to be great. In the words of Coach Mo, ‘That’s fine, that’s fine.’” Almost as fine as Barron’s game winner, you will have the opportunity to watch the Andover Lacrosse guys flip their hair, and Exeter, tomorrow at 2:30 in the stadium.