The Andover Varsity Boys Lacrosse Team won a thrilling game against Choate under the lights in Phelps Stadium on Saturday. Andover beat Choate 12-11 in overtime. Andover “came out of the gates flying and stormed to an early lead. In the first quarter the Andover offense was clicking on all cylinders with great movement on and off the ball and with spirited team play,” said Coach Carr. Good offensive spacing and smart possessions set Tom Levesque ’05 and Pat Curtin ’07 up for the first two goals. When the Choate defense caught on that these were the players to stop, Andover smartly used Sam Kennedy ’05 to drive hard to goal and draw the defense, which opened up lanes for Curtin and Levesque to score again. At the end of the first quarter Co-Captain Nate Kellogg ’05 scored the fifth goal off of an inside feed from Ryan Burke ’05, leaving Andover with a 5-1 lead. The second quarter saw a second goal from Kellogg, who then returned the favor by feeding to Burke who scored Andover’s seventh goal. Two quick turnovers at the end of the half allowed Choate to score twice, and at the half the score was 7-4. The third quarter saw a change of momentum in favor of Choate. Though goals by Mike Preston ’05 and Burke kept Andover ahead, during a four minute stretch at the end of the third, “the sleeping giant that is the Choate offense woke up and…began methodically chipping away at the Andover lead….the Choate midfield ran roughshod over the Andover defense for four quick strikes. After being up by as many as five in the third, Andover awake from its nap to find the score tied 9-9 heading into the final quarter,” said Coach Carr. In the fourth, Andover once again regained the lead with goals from Levesque and Burke, but with three minutes left of regulation play, Choate capitalized on Andover’s errors and scored twice. The game then went into sudden-death overtime, with fans and players from both teams holding their breath. Matt Ward ’06’s face-off win saw the ball cleanly passed to Levesque, who ran past two Choate defenders to find the back of the net and insured a thrilling victory for Andover.
