Kelly Mackey ’15 took off from her own zone, blew past the Winchendon defender and deked to her left. Leaving the Winchendon goalie sprawling on the ice, Mackey calmly flipped the puck into the back of the net for a smooth hat trick. The goal gave Andover Girls Hockey a commanding 4-0 lead early in the second period. Mackey scored half of the team’s goals in its 6-3 win over Winchendon last Wednesday.
“I wasn’t really thinking about [the hat trick] at all after the first two goals. I just wanted to win the game. Once I saw the puck go in, I just thought, ‘Oh I actually scored,’ but it didn’t really hit me that I had scored a hat trick,” said Mackey.
The team rebounded from a disappointing 3-0 loss to BB&N in the first game of the season last Friday. BB&N pounced on Andover early in the game, and Andover struggled to establish an offensive rhythm.
Defensive miscues and long stretches of time spent in the defensive zone cost Andover as the game progressed and neutralized Andover’s offense. Additionally, because the game was Andover’s first of the season, the team was still learning how to work with each other.
Andover controlled every facet of the game against Winchendon. “Right from the first drop of the puck, we showed up to play and showed up determined to win. It was really awesome,” said Co-Captain Elizabeth Kemp ’15.
“I think [the team] just played without fear,” added Head Coach Martha Fenton. “There was no hesitation, they went to the puck, they won all those one-on-one battles, and that’s what we were focused on and I think it really made a big difference.”
Mackey netted the first goal just four minutes into the start of the game and a minute later Courtney Massotti ’17 tacked on a second goal to give Andover a two-goal advantage.
The goal was Massotti’s first of her career. “I kind of just saw the puck on the ice, I’d been winning the battle for position all night, and I was fortunate to be in a good spot to have an open shot,” said Massotti.
Charlotte Welch ’18 and Miranda Nestor ’17 added to the rout, and through two periods Andover had a 5-1 lead. Caroline Garrity ’15 added two assists of her own as Andover outshot Winchendon 33 to 14, finding quality chances all along the way and keeping the puck in the offensive zone.
Elizabeth Welch ’18 also picked up an assist of her own as she and her twin, Charlotte Welch, exploited the Winchendon defense. “I think we’re used to each other’s play and know where we are going to be,” said Elizabeth Welch. “We just find each other naturally and it really works well.”
The twin sisters, along with Co-Captain Anna Fucillo ’15, have been a powerful line thus far for Andover, combining for 24 of Andover’s 52 shots of the season. “We really worked as a team, we communicated really well and executed our system,” said Fucillo.
Andover returns to the ice Friday afternoon at home against Southfield to try and build on their momentum.
