Andover Girls Water Polo pulled out two extremely close wins at home two Saturdays ago against Choate with a score of 9-7 and Loomis Chaffee with a score of 10-9. The team continued its winning streak on Wednesday, defeating Exeter 6-5 in sudden death overtime, but fell to Deerfield 3-10 and Hopkins 7-8 this past Saturday. Andover’s game against Loomis was the second time the two teams met this year. “They did a much better job of anticipating our various offensive movements and strategies. We knew we’d undoubtedly have to change our previous strategy against that team,” said Co-Captain Amelia Danovitch ’13. The first quarter ended with a score of 2-2, and Andover found itself trailing by two at the end of the third quarter. In the fourth quarter, Andover barely pulled ahead to win the game by one point thanks to strong offensive performances from Danovitch and Co-Captain Julia Smachlo ’13. Danovitch scored six goals in total, including an incredible shot with just five seconds left in the quarter. “We had a tremendous morale boost when Danovitch scored from halfway across the pool at the buzzer. It was a great moment and helped inspire us to move towards victory,” said Coach Daniel O’Shea. Kaitlin Simpson ’14 also excelled on defense, totaling over eight steals. Continued strong performances by Danovitch, Smachlo and Simpson scored a combined total of seven of Andover’s nine goals. The team continued its winning momentum in its game against Exeter on Wednesday. Exeter had improved greatly since the last time the two teams met. The game was tied 5-5 by the end of the four quarter, and remained tied two overtime quarters later before going into sudden death. Danovitch scored the winning goal with an incredible long distance shot, giving Andover a 6-5 win. This past Saturday, the team had two challenging matches against Deerfield and Hopkins, who are ranked first and second in the league, respectively, followed by Andover in third. Hopkins had a strong goalie that challenged Andover’s offense. Despite three of Andover’s starters not being able to play, the team put up a great fight, losing by only one point. The team faced Deerfield again, having recently lost to the talented team. Andover utilized its past experience against Deerfield to adjust its tactics. Andover worked to fully cover Deerfield’s offense and push them out farther to prevent perimeter goals. “Once again our seasoned players showed tremendous leadership and game awareness. I’m particularly impressed by how Lauren Conte [’14] played. She showed tremendous presence of mind throughout the duration of the games that led to some great goals and smart assists,” Coach O’Shea continued. “We are confident that we can play even better at championships, and play these teams again with a different outcome,” said Jen Powers ’14.
