Andover Boys Lacrosse started off the season with an 8-11 loss at Belmont Hill this past Wednesday, but will look to quickly turn its season around. With just days to prepare after spring break, Andover came into their first game unaccustomed to live game action. Andover started the game sluggishly and fell behind 4-1 in just the first quarter. Brian Safstrom ’10 scored Andover’s first goal of the season as Co-Captain Luke Duprey ’10 helped with the assist. Andover quickly fought its way back in the second quarter as Belmont only maintained a 5-4 lead at the halftime break. “We did much better in the second quarter because we possessed the ball more and exploited matchups we had in the midfield,” Spencer Macquarrie ’10 said. Coming out of the half, Co-Captain John McKenna ’10 made a great drive from the top and easily put the ball in the back of the net with to tie it up. Belmont Hill quickly bounced back, scoring three unanswered goals at the end of the third quarter including one with just one and a half seconds left. A Belmont Hill player grabbed the ball from behind the net off of a missed shot and quickly sent it into the Andover goal. Both teams played very evenly in the fourth quarter, but Andover could not manage to get back into contention, finishing the game with a three goal loss. “In general, we could not possess on offense, whether it was because we were getting too anxious or simply throwing bad passes, it really held us back.” Macquarrie said. Both Macquarrie and Tom Shannon ’12 netted two goals on the day with Macquarrie adding an assist as well. McKenna, Safstrom, Joe Kruy ’12 and Will Winkenwerder ’10 were the other scorers, each adding one goal. Andover is looking to put this one behind them and get on the winning track this season. Duprey said “I expect to have an amazing season with this team. We have great chemistry and our new guys are learning very quickly and adapting. I do not imagine our team to be losing more than two or three games this season.” Post-graduates Clay Cleveland ’10 and Andy Vailas ’10 are among the newcomers that will have key roles on the team for the remainder of the season. “Andy is one of the most athletic kids on the team, and Clay is an incredible defender that could probably shut off any attackman in our league,” said goalie Jay Dolan ’11. Dolan has very big shoes to fill, starting in place of last year’s captain Spencer Rice ’09, but he is more than ready to emerge as a star on this team. Even with all the new and returning talent, the team knows it still has a lot of work to do. “I know I speak for many of the guys on the team when I say I want to see guys who are going to work hard in practice, work even harder in games and all the while doing it with the right attitude,” Duprey said. Despite the early loss, Andover will surely attack the rest of the season with much more energy and focus. Andover’s next game is on Saturday at home versus New Hampton.
