Andover Ultimate’s strong mental strategy carried the team through a total of six games at the Andover Invitational last Sunday, including an impressive rebound performance of three decisive victories after three consecutive losses.
After a slow start to the six-game tournament on Sunday, Andover remained positive, reacted quickly and translated the learning experience onto the field and into play to work cohesively.
The team struggled to orient itself and find its rhythm in the first three games against Abington, Somerville and Lexington, not performing up to par on defense and coming short on offense. Fatigued from the long, early trip and lacking the usual communication and teamwork on the field, the team had trouble generating offense and stopping the other team’s counter-attacks.
“We realized that we needed to get our heads in the game and pick it up and actually work as a team,” said Jordan Swett ’15. “Once we got our heads around that, we really came together.”
“I am very proud of how we played by the end of the tournament,” said Co-Captain Alec Tolentino ’14. “Very proud.”
However, Andover stepped up to the challenge as the day went on, once again proving its ability to take advantage of experience on the field and avoiding the same mistakes. Andover closed out the day strong with wins over Falmouth, Acton-Boxboro, and Holliston.
“We played better because, just generally, our throws were better and we were playing better defense,” said Co-Captain Piper Curtis ’13.
“We got more turnovers and more chances to score,” continued Curtis. “We were more organized and disciplined in our use of space, and our reset cuts and swings were better so we didn’t lose the disc as much again.”
Riding on its momentum from its final three wins on Sunday, Andover Ultimate hoped to take full advantage of its rematch against Lexington High School on Wednesday.
“We were really hoping that we could come back and prove that [Sunday] morning at the tournament we weren’t ready, that we were tired,” said Charlotte Doran ’13. “We were hoping to, if not beat them, then maybe give them more of a challenge.”
However, despite a conscious focus on team effort, Andover Ultimate felt the full force of its inexperience in a hard 4-15 loss.
“It’s no excuse, but they had strong everything,” said Tolentino. “They had good handlers, they were patient and they were just a better team.”
Experience from Sunday came into play as Andover took advantage of every opportunity to score, aggressively threatening deeply and decisively finishing the points it could. However, the little improvements were not enough to propel the team past Lexington’s defense.
“Other than [the points we scored], the points went really slowly, and we would be able to get a little bit down the field, but then there would be a turnover and we just couldn’t catch up after that,” said Doran.
“We did play better than we played previously,” said Anjali Krishnamachar ’13. “They were just a better team; whenever we would make a mistake they would immediately capitalize on that, and react quicker than us.”
Andover attempted different forms of strategic plays, including sag defense and zone offense, but ultimately could not thwart Lexington’s experienced handlers.
“We had a lot of really good turnovers, but sometimes we’d turnover and we’d get the disc, and then make a stupid pass and give it up immediately,” added Kirshnamachar. “That comes with experience, but we’ll still have to work on that. It just wasn’t enough.”
With key players missing from the starting lineup due to SAT testing, Ultimate hopes to maintain its strong mental game and continue its improvement at the two-day Amherst Invitational this weekend.
