Co-Captains Peter Kalmakis ’06 and Jonah Guerin ’07 led the Phillips Academy Ultimate Frisbee team into its first game ever as an Andover varsity team last Saturday. The debut was worth the wait as the “Blue Steel” Ultimate team crushed Newton South High School 12-2 and followed that victory up with a 15-4 destruction of Westford Academy. There was a gusty wind throughout the day that played a major part in each game. Andover knew before the game that the team that combated the wind the best was going to come out on top. In each game, Andover kept its passes low and out of the wind. Against Newton South, Andover played a conservative game and kept its turnovers to a minimum. As a result, Andover finished with only 16 turnovers and forced Newton South into 26 turnovers. Although the Andover team is a young and inexperienced squad, it had great composure and poise throughout the game, especially on offense. The aggressive and ferocious play of Aaron Weisz ’06 gave Andover a huge boost. In one play, a pack of three of four opponents surounded Weisz but he would amazing come out with the frisbee. The Big Blue defense also played a great game holding Newton South to just one point in each half. In its second game of the day against Westford Academy, Andover played just as well. Westford was more athletic and physical than Newton South and surprised Andover a couple times during the game. Andover kept its focus however, and kept good spacing on offense and constant pressure on defense. In order to counter the strong wind, Andover utilized mostly short passes and worked its way up field to score. New and returning players all played brilliantly and led Andover to the 15-4 win. The only damper in Andover’s win was that Kalmakis broke his arm. As the team’s captain and arguably its best player, Kalmakis will be sorely missed during his time on the disabled list. Despite this, Andover is looking forward to the progress the team will make over the course of the year. The team has a lot of new comers who add a great deal of athleticism to the team, but have not yet learned the subleties and skills of the game. The veterans however do not lack these skills and carry the team to victory. The team will be very dangerous once the newcomers gain some playing experience and become accustomed to the speed of play at the varsity level. The Ultimate team plays perennial powerhouse N.M.H. on Saturday April 26 in its next game.
