Sports

Nekele McCall ’14 Nets Three in 13-5 Hammering over Deerfield

Nekele McCall ’14 tallied three unanswered goals in the first half of Andover Girls Lacrosse’s 13-5 annihilation of Deerfield on Wednesday.

This win was Andover’s first of the season and a strong rebound after a 12-6 loss to Noble & Greenough School on Saturday.

After a stream of domination, Andover headed into halftime with a 7-3 lead against Deerfield.

The team continued its success in the second half and scored another six goals.

Brooke Van Valkenburg ’12 said, “We had a good transition game, so we were able to score off some fast breaks.”

However, the team did not find such success on Saturday against Nobles.

With six minutes remaining in the first half, Nobles scored to break a 1-1 tie and garner control of the game with that goal.

Nobles added three more goals in the next six minutes, and Andover trailed 5-2 at halftime.

Andover had greater possession in the first half, but its offense struggled to capitalize on its opportunities.

Catherine Anderson ’12 said, “I remember how we would break the ball out of our defensive zone–and it took a lot of effort to do so–but when we got to the offensive end, we would become frazzled; we’d try to force a shot instead of staying patient. After we lost control of the ball we’d have to go running back up the field. This scenario repeated itself multiple times, resulting in us becoming very tired.”

However, Andover did exhibit some offensive prowess, including goals from Van Valkenburg and Hannah Sorkin ’14.

“Our best plays that game seemed to be the fast break,” said Anderson. “We’d win the ball off the draw and go tearing up the field. In some cases we broke past the defense and got off a good, hard, fast shot to score, but unfortunately we weren’t winning enough draws for this to become a reoccurring incident.”

While Andover’s defense allowed 12 goals, some improvement seemed evident. Its main challenge was containing a star Nobles attacker, who scored an impressive seven goals.

“We certainly improved our transition and the movement of the ball from defense to offense,” said Hannah Beinecke ’12.

Anderson said, “Slowly but surely we’re beginning to talk more on defense, but we can always talk more. You can never talk too much.”

Andover never really managed to mount a second half comeback, but its effort remained inspired.

“We had a lot of energy on Saturday. Everyone was putting in an effort, whether it was on the field or off. That type of commitment and spirit really helped the team stay strong and focused even as Nobles was racking up points,” said Anderson.

This team’s chemistry on the field also progressed during these two matchups, and it finally paid off at Deerfield.

“We are starting to gel. We are finally getting into the rhythm of games on Wednesday and Saturday, and it really helps to have a consistent schedule like that. Now we can start to focus on more details of the game, and getting our team chemistry going,” said Van Valkenburg.

Andover will look for its second straight win at home against Pingree on Friday at 6:00 p.m.