Sports

Domination at Flood Marr lifts Boys Hockey to 8-1 Start With Bright Hopes in Future Matchups

While most students at Phillips Academy were relaxing on break, the Andover Boys Hockey team was hard at work with two regular season games as well as the annual Flood Marr tournament. The team played well, earning two victories over Pomfret and Pingree and a second-place finish in the tournament. Andover traveled to Pomfret on Saturday, December 6 and defeated the Griffins with a final score of 4-1. Andover opened the game with a poor first period, but awoke in the second, exploding with four goals. Goals from Nick Craven ’09 and Brian Safstrom ’10 put Andover up 2-0. Andover then took advantage of two power-play situations, as Mike Lozzi ’09 scored on a 5-on-3 advantage, and Chris Kreider ’10 scored on a 5-on-4 to close the period. Andover then held Pomfret in check in the third. Goalie Glenn Stowell ’09 stopped 25 of 26 shots in the game to secure the road victory. In the Sunday following Assessment Week, the Big Blue came out on top against Pingree with a 4-0 win. Andover started out strong by taking a 2-0 lead in the first period. Kreider and Ryan Heavey ’09 provided the scoring, with Heavey’s score coming on a power play. A scoreless second period kept the score at 2-0 going into the final period, and Andover padded its lead on a second goal from Kreider and a goal from Mike McDonagh ’09. From that point, Andover cruised to a victory as Eric Yoon ’11 stopped 16 shots for the shutout. In the Flood Marr tournament, Andover played well and earned three victories en route to the championship game. Andover beat Westminster 4-1 and followed that up with a 4-2 victory over Milton. Stowell was sharp in a 5-0 shutout of Hotchkiss to close pool play. These three victories earned Andover a spot in the championship game against Nobles. The game remained tied at 3 after two periods, but Nobles pulled ahead in the final period for a 5-3 win. “The tournament ended on a sour note with a close loss to Nobles, but that was the best any Andover team has performed at that tournament,” said Kreider. Goalie Stowell and forwards Kreider and Garnet Hathaway ’10 all played well during the tournament and were rewarded by being named to the All-Tournament Team. Andover is now preparing for the bulk of their schedule. In the next three weeks, Andover will have eight games. The team knows it has a lot to work on to get where they need to be, but so far the team is making good progress. “I think we are far from complacent and are ready to take on the heart of our schedule over the next few weeks,” said Kreider. “Although I think we have an awful lot to work on, I think our performance thus far is extremely promising and I am excited at how well we are gelling as a team rather than individuals.” Andover looks to ride its momentum into an away game against Choate on Saturday and a home game against Tilton on Wednesday.