Trevor Braun ’10 and Eddie Ellis ’13 were Andover’s go-to players this week, leading the team in scoring. The two were the bright spots in an otherwise disappointing 6-3 loss to Choate on Saturday, combining for all three Andover goals. Braun and Ellis also each scored a goal apiece in Wednesday’s 3-1 win against Tilton. Andover took an early lead against Tilton with a goal by Braun. Tilton answered back shortly after to tie it up, but Andover tightened up its defense, and held its opponent scoreless thereafter. Braun said, “Our third line is arguably our most important line because they have been superb defensively.” This week, Andover will welcome back injured defenseman Beau Palin ’10, who will add to an already great core of defensman. Andover took the lead again with its second goal of the game only three minutes left in the 2nd period. Will Gray ’10 put the puck past the Tilton goalie after a nice pass from Captain Brian Safstrom ’10. “[Gray and Safstrom] have perfected a great power play strategy that will surprise every team in the league,” said Garnet Hathaway ’10. To cap off the victory, Ellis put the game away with a goal in the 3rd period. In Saturday’s game, a bad first period for the team gave Choate an early lead, 2-0. After intermission, Andover was ready to play, and began the second period with an unbelievable start. Less than two minutes into the period, a pass by Braun in front of the net led to a top-shelf one-timer by Ellis. Only seconds afterwards, Ellis returned Braun’s favor, giving him the puck in the neutral zone. Braun beat his defender and tied the game up with a snipe from the left side. Andover took the lead five minutes later with yet another Ellis-Braun goal, this time a nice pass from the corner which Braun took top-shelf. “At that point we were really energized,” said Braun. “I really thought that was a turning point in the game.” Only a freshman, Ellis is doing a great job of contributing to the team this early in the season. He has assisted and scored many crucial goals this season, including in the Flood-Marr tournament. “Being a freshman, I never thought I would be contributing to the team as much as I have been,” said Ellis. “I’ve just been doing what coach has asked of me, and so far, it’s been working extremely well.” Unfortunately, Andover couldn’t get another goal by the Choate goalie. Instead, one minute after Braun’s goal, Choate netted two unanswered goals. The Andover defense broke down twice within 10 seconds of play, allowing Choate to again take the lead. Braun said, “Our team did a great job of rebounding after the first period, but we need to sustain that effort for the whole game.” Having frustratingly lost its momentum, Andover was outscored 2-1 in the third period. “In the third we simply didn’t have enough shots to win the game,” said Braun. After a split week, Andover will look for a win against Exeter Saturday. After a disappointing end of season loss to Exeter last year, Andover aims to capture a win against its rival.
