On Friday, the Girls Varsity Soccer Team traveled to Brooks and tied 1-1. The game was a strong one for Andover, as Brooks scored very early in the first half. Captain Ali Holliday ’06 said of the game, “We really picked our game up in the second half. We knew that if we wanted to stay with the Brooks girls we would need to take our determination to the next level, and that is what we did.” While the first half was not as strong as the second half, Andover still fought for every 50-50 ball and had some clever passing sequences to move the ball down the field. Emily Little ’09 played a solid game for Andover, shutting down Brooks’ key player and completely removing her from the play. Holliday said, “The cutting off of their major player was crucial for us because it left the Brooks players unsure of whom to move the ball to.” Coming out with more aggression and intensity in the second half, Andover started to really move the ball well down the field with through-balls and 1-2’s. Finally, Andover was able to tie up the game with a goal by Emily Kennedy ’07. Kennedy scored off of a free kick outside of the 18. Now with the score evened out, Andover was able to make the final push for the win. The team was unable to get another goal, but the game was still very well-played. The following day the team went to Tabor. Unfortunately, Andover did not have as strong of a game as it had had the night before. Losing 3-0, Andover’s effort was there, but its passing was not. The players did not connect as well as they had in their past few games. In the second half however, Andover did pick up the aggression and determination, but the team just could not find the spark that it needed. Overall the individual effort was good; the team just could not find one another to move the ball down the field with ease and efficiency. On Wednesday, Andover came out very strong against Groton and earned an 8-1 victory. The third game of the week provided Andover with a much needed confidence booster as everyone played well. While the game ended up being more of a practice under game conditions, Andover implemented some of the skills it had been working on. The passing was phenomenal throughout the entire game, as the defense sent through-balls to the offense, and the offense comfortably passed back to the midfielders. The first goal was scored by Camille Robinson ’07 off of a sneaky through-ball from a defender. Andover followed this goal up with seven more, scored by many different players. Roxanne Knapp ’07 notched at least two assists. Overall, the passing and effort in the game enabled Andover to seize control of the game and keep it. Holliday said, “This game was good because we were able to work on some of the things we had been practicing. Also, this game was a really solid one for the team as a unit, with each player pulling her weight.” The Big Blue looks forward to playing Choate on Saturday at 4:30.
