A hat trick from Mike Lozzi ’09 powered Andover to a 7-4 home win over Thayer on Friday. The next day, Andover edged Nobles 2-1, in a rematch of December’s Flood Marr Tournament championship game. On Friday night, Andover faced Thayer with the advantage of a rowdy home crowd at Harrison Rink. Thayer got on the board first with a power-play goal in the first period. With 18 seconds left in the first frame, however, Lozzi put back a rebound to tie the game at one. In the second period, both teams’ offenses took over. Thayer jumped back in front with another power-play goal, but Andover bounced right back with another goal from Josh Geary ’09. After Thayer scored to go up 3-2, Nick Craven ’09 scored a highlight reel goal to knot it up at 3. Just before the end of the second, Lozzi put in his second goal of the night on a power play to give Andover a 4-3 lead. After Captain Brooks Dyroff ’09 added Andover’s fifth goal, Thayer scored yet again to make it a one-goal game. Andover then put Thayer away, however, with Geary’s second goal and Lozzi’s third to give Andover the 7-4 victory. Lozzi’s hat trick was the second consecutive three-goal performance for Andover’s first line, as Chris Krieder ’09 scored a hat trick in last week’s match-up with St. Sebastian’s. “I owe a lot of my personal success in the Thayer game to my linemates,” said Lozzi. “They are great to play with.” “Our offensive game was very effective, as we did a good job of putting a lot of shots on goal in the second and third periods,” said Coach Dean Boylan. The following day, Andover visited Nobles in a game that was hard-nosed right from the start. Six minutes into the game, Nobles drew first blood, going up 1-0 on a power-play goal. Andover tied it up in the second period when Chris Kreider ’10 scored on a power play, and the game remained tied 1-1 until the middle of the third period. Brian Saftstrom ’10 slid the puck to Geary on a great face-off win, and Geary capitalized with the winning goal. This win meant something extra for Andover, as Nobles defeated Andover in the Flood Marr Tournament earlier this season. “It was great to get a win to get a little revenge against the team that gave us our first loss,” said Lozzi. Andover has put together a nice hot streak in these past two weeks by posting a 4-1-1 record. Coach Boylan likes the way the team has been playing. “We are gelling nicely at this point in the season,” said Coach Boylan about the team. “We need to work on the details of all three zones, as well as limiting penalties.” Andover looks to improve its 12-2-2 record and stay on top of the New England Rankings as the team takes on Loomis at home and Deerfield on the road next week.
