After last week’s loss against Brooks, Eva Toffoloni ’15 led Andover with two goals in a win against Choate.
Andover came out firing early in the first half. Hannak Sorkin ’14 said, “Everyone was working as a unit, and we were dominating.” With about 13 minutes left in the first half, Sorkin passed to Toffoloni, who easily pushed through two defenders and rocketed the ball into the back of the net.
Choate came out strong in the second half and put pressure on Andover’s back line. Choate broke through tie the score 1-1. For the rest of the half, both teams fought back and forth for position, trying to come out on top. With 30 seconds left on the clock, Toffoloni crashed through Choate’s defensive line again, netting her second goal of the contest to secure the win for Andover.
“It was awesome to pull
through with the win in the last 30 seconds of the game. We finished strong and played with grit,” said Co-Captain Brooke Van Valkenburg ’12.
Andover also beat Milton this week, 2-0. At first, Andover struggled to connect its passes, but improved its passing as the game progressed. Throughout the entire first half, Milton pushed Andover’s defensive line. With about 15 minutes left in the first half, a Milton attacker slid a goal past goalkeeper Corinne Rivard ’12.
In the second half, Andover’s defensive line picked up its pace, as defenders Cara Daly ’13, Catherine Anderson ’12, Co-Captain Hannah Beinecke ’12 and Van Valkenburg stifled Milton’s offensive attack. Sorkin said, “When the ball is in our zone, I rarely get scared that the other team will score because we almost always clear the ball out successfully.”
Van Valkenburg redirected a corner to give Andover its first goal of the day. Beinecke later scored off of another corner to secure the 2-1 win. Co-Captain Greer McBeth ’12 said, “This game we worked together really cohesively and fought our way back. All of us just wanted it more, so we willed ourselves to win. This game really showed our consistency and what we can accomplish when we work together.”
Andover faces St. Paul’s School at 2:00 on Saturday in Phelps Stadium.
