With 15 minutes remaining in the second half, Aly Wayne ’14 drove down the field and took a shot on goal. While Loomis’s goalie diverted the shot, Alex Thomas ’15 was quick to react, deflecting the ball into the net before Loomis’s goalie could recover.
The goal, however, was not enough for Andover, as the team fell to Loomis, 2-1 on Saturday.
“Although we did not win, the team put up a great fight and worked extremely well together as a unit. Everyone put in their best effort and was there to support one another,” said Wayne.
Andover’s defense dropped back in the first half, hoping to combat the scoring abilities of the Loomis midfielders.
The strategy proved effective, preventing the Loomis offense from entering scoring territory for much of the first 30 minutes. Loomis, however, scored off a penalty kick, breaking the 0-0 tie with less than a minute remaining in the first half.
With Loomis up by one, Andover altered the pace of the game. “We had more of a defensive strategy during the first half and we shut them down in the middle. But going into the second half we focused more on attacking and looking for scoring opportunities,” said Sarah Humes ’16.
Focused on scoring, the Andover midfielders attacked the net with multiple shots on goal. The offensive attack culminated with Andover’s first goal of the game by Thomas.
Andover took control of the field while remaining on the offensive and preventing Loomis from taking shots on goal.
With only six minutes remaining, Loomis entered Andover’s territory, scoring on a fast break that split up Andover’s defense.
The team was unable to recover from the goal and fell 2-1.
“It went really well from the defensive perspective; neither goal was scored beating us around. The game has given us very manageable goals to improve upon,” said Co-Captain Diana Tchadi ’14.
“We executed our game plan really well, the entire team needs to be better defensively as a unit, but it was good to see that we were able to come back from the PK and get a goal of our own. Now we just need to focus on playing our all for all 80 minutes of the game,” added Co-Captain Hannah Guzzi ’14.
After losing the last three of its four games, Andover will try to begin a winning streak against BB&N on Friday and Tabor on Saturday.
