Sports

Andover Lacrosse Drops 5-1 Lead Against Choate in 9-8 Loss

Co-Captains Jack Walker ’09 and Spencer Rice ’09 made sure their last game in Phelps Stadium was an Andover victory, with both of them playing very impressively against Pomfret. Walker ’09 netted five impressive goals while Rice allowed just two goals in four quarters. Andover tried pushing the ball in transition in order to prevent Pomfret from setting up their zone defense. The highlight play of the day came when Andrew Pohly ’09 made his first mark in the scorebook, gaining an assist after starting a fast break. The offense clicked early in the game and allowed Andover to get off to a good start. The great offense continued throughout the game, giving Andover the 10-2 win over Pomfret. The great win against Pomfret followed a heartbreaking Saturday night loss to rival Choate. Andover started on fire, with Walker ’09 netting a goal only thirty-five seconds in. Early on, the offense clicked very well and their passing created some nice scoring chances. Fellow attackman Spencer Macquarrie ’10 kept up the scoring trend by adding another goal off of a dodge to put Andover up 2-0. Chris Brown ’09 then found Will Walker ’11 in front of the net for Andover’s third goal of the game. Andover scored another goal to gain a 4-1 lead after the first quarter. In the beginning of the second quarter, Will Walker returned the favor to Brown by finding him on the crease for an easy dunk. Brown’s goal was the only offensive action of the quarter. At the end of the half, great defense and stellar offense kept Andover up 5-1. Trevor Braun ’10 played fantastic defense in the absence of Luke Duprey ’10. Braun said, “In the first half we played very solid defense. We did a good job of containing our match ups.” The second half took a turn for the worse for Andover. Choate opened up with four unanswered goals. Jack Walker broke up the flood of Choate success with a snipe down low. Brown trailed closely with another low shot with 5:25 left in the third, which put Andover up 7-6. As the final minutes ticked off the clock, Andover trailed 7-8. Always cool under pressure, Jack Walker tied the game up, 8-8. With just one minute left in the game, a Choate midfielder broke through the defense and scored the game-winning goal. Andover’s season will end with the season finale this Friday, at rival Phillips Exeter.