In front of sidelines packed with parents and fans, Co-Captain Emily Little ’09 led a decisive shutout scoring four of the team’s five goals. Andover, this past week, faced off against Deerfield and BB&N, two traditionally strong squads. Prevailing over Deerfield by a strong margin gave the team a good win to boast about this season, while a disappointing loss to BB&N kept the team to a 1-1 week. In Saturday’s game against Deerfield, Andover took control of the game very early on. Within minutes of the starting whistle, Little received the ball and scored an impressive goal for Andover. After less than ten minutes had passed, Little scored her second goal of the game, putting Andover in a 2-0 lead. After Little’s stellar two points, the momentum and energy level of the team skyrocketed. “The energy from the fans, and all of the parents who were there made the game really exciting,” commented Co-Captain Catherine Coppinger ’09. While Deerfield tried to level the score with strong chances of its own, the game went into halftime with a score of 2-0. The second half began very similarly to the first, as Little scored her third goal of the game, and stretched Andover’s lead to a whopping four goals. There were some unnerving plays towards the middle of the second, as Deerfield tried to rally a comeback goal. However, Deerfield was unsuccessful and could not follow through their shots. Andover retaliated as Little scored the fifth and final goal of the game. Lauren Glynn ’10, goalkeeper for the entire second half, had several key saves which kept Deerfield from getting on the scoreboard, and contributing to Andover 5-0 win. The Deerfield game was Andover’s seventh shutout of the season, and 5 points is the largest point margin Andover has won by all year. Since Deerfield is a traditionally strong team, and always a good match for Andover, the team was especially proud of their victory. “The way we played today was the best I’ve seen the team play all season,” remarked Coppinger. “We kept up the intensity, and it really paid off.” Coming off the very impressive Saturday win, the team was ready for action this past Wednesday as Andover faced off against BB&N on Andover’s home turf. Unfortunately, the team experienced a disappointing upset, losing to BB&N 0-2. Early on in the first half, BB&N got a lucky shot in as the ball slowly dribbled into the Andover net. However, Andover looked past this early goal and was focused and determined for the remaining half. Though the Andover defense was unwavering and the offense persistent, it was not able to sneak a goal past the BB&N defenders. The team stuck to Coach Lisa Joel’s mantra by playing, “one half at a time,” and came out strong and ready to score at the start of the second half. However, BB&N soon took control of the game and scored their second goal against Andover. Unfortunately, Andover seemed to lose a lot of momentum after BB&N’s second goal. Though a fair amount of the play during the second half did take place in front of the BB&N net, their defense was solid and did not let Andover score. Andover had a few scoring opportunities, but the ball just seemed to keep missing the net. After another disappointing half, the team walked away with their fourth loss of the season. “I really think we could have beaten them under different circumstances, and definitely if we played them again,” reflected Coppinger. With a 9-4 record, Andover has already put the BB&N game behind them and is concentrating on beating Pingree this coming Saturday. If Andover wins its next three games, it will still be in the running to compete in the playoffs after the end of the season. The team is also preparing for their rivalry match-up against Exeter next weekend. Exeter is always a good game, and it is looking to be especially close this year.
