Perfectly executing zone offense for the first time, Andover Ultimate sliced through Concord Carlisle’s zone defense on Wednesday for its first victory of the season. The team pulled ahead early in the game and rode its momentum to come out on top 13-10. “We got really good flow going a couple of points in, and we looked really good,” said Charlotte Doran ’13. “Even looking at [the game] from the sideline, you could tell everyone knew what they were doing.” Cohesive offense proved key to Andover’s success on the field. Against both man defense and zone defense, the team adapted quickly and powered through to the end zone. “We kept the disc going, which made it harder for their defense to stay on us,” said Co-Captain Piper Curtis ’13. “What I thought was most impressive was watching the team react to [Concord Carlisle’s] zone defense,” said Anjali Krishnamachar ’13. Zone defense forces the handlers on offense, a tough position that requires experience and skill, to make extremely short, quick passes. Undaunted by its lack of experience playing zone offense, the young team rose to the challenge and skillfully finished points. “[The handlers] really stepped up to the plate,” continued Krishnamachar. “We hadn’t practiced that in practice, but [we] executed [zone offense] really well.” “The whole point of zone defense is to make us throw as many throws as possible so that maybe we’ll drop one, but we didn’t,” added Doran. Andover’s sudden success in the new offensive style came from the team’s ability to take advantage of previous losses and learn strategy that it could then translate into play against Concord Carlisle. “On Saturday, [Northfield Mount Hermon] and Hotchkiss threw zone defense for the first couple of points until they realized it wasn’t working against us,” said Doran. “So just the fact that we’ve seen it before, because other teams have thrown it at us and we’ve been able to break through it, really gave us confidence to say that we can do it.” Overall, Andover showed vast improvement in its on-field teamwork, with a much better command of space and sense of each other throughout the game. “Our flow on offense was better—much better than it has been recently,” said Co-Captain Alec Tolentino ’14. “We’re starting to get chemistry on the field, and the game experience was really helpful.” “I think our throws were a lot better, and instead of just going up one side [of the field], we were able to swing it around and use the full field,” Curtis added. “There were a couple of times where we threatened deep, and it ended up really working out, because with threats like that, you really get the other team on its heels,” said Doran. Individual performances from both new and returning players pulled the team through at the end of the game. Rem Remmel ’14 executed an impressive “Callahan,” intercepting the disc in Concord Carlisle’s end zone for an extra point. Matt Alpert ’15 evaded his defender to be wide open for the hard-earned point as well. Andover will attend the Greater Lawrence Technical High School’s Andover Invitational this Sunday.
