Sports

Boys Lacrosse Falls to Nobles 5-4 in Defensive Slugfest; PG Kevin Gould ’06 Scores 3 Goals for Blue in Andover Debut

Newcomer Kevin Gould ’06 scored three goals for the Andover Boys Lacrosse team in its 5-4 loss to Nobles & Greenough last Saturday. Despite Gould’s stellar play and great goaltending by Sean Aaron ’07, Andover fell in its home opener. Andover started out strongly but as the game went on, the slippery mud caused by the pouring rain made it difficult for both teams to find their footing. In addition the rain made the sticks wet, which led to some wayward passing and shooting. Dylan Green ‘06 commented, “In an opening game, some sloppy play may be expected, but not like the way it happened on Saturday.” For some team members playing in such conditions was a completely foreign experience. West coast native Green continued, “I’m from California so playing in that kind of downpour is definitely something I will have to adjust to quickly”. Andover’s starters were named as expected. Gould and Patrick Curtin ’06 played attack positions, with Co-Captain Matt Ward ‘06, Green and Zack Johnson ‘08 at midfield. Jake Edwards ‘06, Spencer Johnson ‘06 and Co-Captain Matthew Yeager ‘06 played defense with Yoni Gruskin ‘07 and Nick Anschuetz ’08 at Long Stick Middie. Throughout the game, Andover played very strong defense. Goalie Aaron had over ten saves in only allowing Nobles to score five goals. Every save he made was difficult. Offensively, the team had a lot of opportunities to score, but was not able to convert on its attempts. Captain Matt Yeager ’06 commented, “One of the big killers for the game was ground balls, which we never really came up with over the course of the game.” He added, “With a lack of ground balls we weren’t able to control the game as much as we wanted and often our possessions would come up short and unsuccessful.” Captain Yeager recognized that the team needs to work on slowing the game down and taking its time with the ball. The team’s first goal of the game came on a man-up situation. Green cradled the ball on the side of the field as newcomer Kevin Gould ’06 made a cut from behind the goal. Green threw a bullet pass to Gould as he crossed in front of the goal and Gould scored to put Andover on the board. Later in the game, Gould had a pass deflected by a Nobles defender into the net for his second goal of the game. Defenseman Co-Captain Yeager carried the ball down the field and made a strong pass to Gould who scored his third goal of the game. Late in the game, Gould passed the ball to a wide-open Curtin who scored Andover’s fourth and final goal. A positive Green said, “This is a game we have to just put behind us and move on.”