Alex Clifford ’07 scored two goals and provided three assists Saturday, leading the Andover Boys Varsity Soccer team to a 5-3 victory at home over Loomis Chaffee. On Wednesday, T.J. Thompson ’06 led the team to a 3-0 win on the road against Holderness. Andover jumped out to a quick start against Loomis, piling on offensive pressure from the first whistle. It subsequently took the lead in the 23rd minute when Chris Wade ’08 scored from six yards out off Clifford’s feed. Thompson scored the second goal with a strong boot from sixteen yards. Andover, however, remained in the driver’s seat. Three minutes later, Jason Zhu ’07 laid the ball in front of the goal from the left side of the field. The Loomis goal keeper ran out to grab the ball, but Clifford dribbled around him, sliding the ball into the empty net. Totally in control, Andover took a 3-0 lead into halftime. After just three minutes, a Loomis substitute scooted around Andover goalie John Gardner ’08 on a breakaway, scoring on an empty net. Applying heavy offensive pressure, Loomis came right back with another goal in the 52nd minute, this time from eighteen yards. The momentum seemed to have shifted. Andover’s luck didn’t immediately improve. In the 62nd minute, shortly after his free kick was blocked by Loomis’ “wall” of defenders, Thompson was slide tackled and injured. He was helped off the field, but remained on the sideline for the rest of the competition. Six minutes later, Gardner misplayed a ball, allowing Loomis to tie the score at three. But Andover stormed right back. Rory McCrae ’06 went back down the field, knocking Clifford’s pass into the net in the sixty-ninth minute. With a 4-3 lead, Andover recovered its confidence. Clifford capped off his terrific performance in the eightieth minute, scoring off an assist from Merzudin Ibric ’06. Andover successfully shut down Loomis for the final ten minutes and hung on for a 5-3 win. In Wednesday’s game, Andover came up against Holderness. Andover had control the whole way, en route to a 3-0 victory. Thompson scored the first two goals, while Clifford, Saturday’s star, netted the third.
