Just four minutes into the game, Andrew Woonton ’11 sniped a shot into the back of the net to take early control against Choate this past Saturday. Andover continued their aggressive attack throughout the first half, and in the 20th minute, put in another goal to take the early 2-0 lead. Post-graduate Dylan Hawkins ’11, received the ball in Andover’s half and proceeded to slice and dice through Choate defenders until he reached the top of the 18 where he blasted a shot into the back of the net. Throughout the first 30 minutes, while continuing with a ferocious attack, Andover’s strong team defense continually rejected Choate attackers with very little trouble. Unable to dribble past Andover’s defenders, the Choate offense began to play long balls over the top, but center backs Jake Rowher ’11 and Peter Lee-Kramer ’11 handled the aerial attack with little trouble. Late in the half, Andover’s defense became slightly unfocused, and a Choate attacker was able to sneak behind the back line and finish into the bottom corner. Andover came out in the second half fired up and ready to respond to the late goal in the first half. Aaron Mentos ’11 continued his scoring spree netting Andover’s third goal in the early minutes of the second half. “We came out with a lot of energy knowing that if we came out strong, we would control the rest of the game. Mentos’ goal was just what we needed at the moment,” said Captain Mike DiFronzo ’11. During the last five minutes, Choate made one final push and found the back of the net. However, Andover quickly crushed any glimpses of hope Choate might have had at a comeback, as Mentos found the back of the net once again from the top of the six-yard-box to complete a 4-2 win. Andover suffered their first lost this season to Winchendon this Wednesday. The Andover defense was caught sleeping within the first 10 minutes, when a through-ball was played to a Winchendon forward, who finished past Andover goalie, Will Poss ’12. Andover quickly stepped up their intensity, immediately possessing inside the attacking half for the majority of the remaining time. Winchendon managed to gain possession late in the half, and scored a goal off of a corner kick. Still optimistic, Andover came out in the second half believing they could come back for the win. Right from the start, Andover created chances left and right and controlled the flow of play. Twenty-five minutes in, Andover had a great chance to score, as Mentos fired a shot off the crossbar, but the ball was easily cleared out by the defense. Andrew Woonton said, “We really turned up the pressure in the second half. We created many chances, but we had a very difficult time finding the back of the net.” Fighting against the clock, Peter Lee-Kramer ’11 pulled the boys back to within one with a great individual effort. Beating multiple defenders, Lee-Kramer ripped a shot into the upper ninety for the goal. Despite their late efforts to equalize, Andover could not gain any more ground and suffered a tough 2-1 loss. The team looks to rebound against Tilton this Saturday.
