After receiving a pass from Drew DiGeronimo ’15, Collin Nugent ’16 snapped the puck past Choate’s goalie to give Andover a 1-0 lead. Nugent’s shot was the only goal of the game in a hard-fought win for Andover Boys Hockey this past Saturday.
“[DiGeronimo] crossed the blue line and gave me a drop pass, and I shot right away and sniped top cheddar,” said Nugent.
Right wing Tyler Levine ’16 said, “Down to the last second we battled Choate: not one dude out there didn’t give his all. This battling gave us the opportunity to bury a goal and then hold our lead till the end.”
Andover’s away game against Choate marked the team’s second consecutive shutout after a last-place finish at the Flood Marr Tournament. On Wednesday, however, the team was unable to keep up its winning streak as the team tied Tilton 2-2.
Against Tilton, Andover tied in overtime after giving up a 2-0 lead with one period left in the game. John Festa ’15 scored both of Andover’s goals on assists from Levine.
Going into the final period, the team was unable to match its previous intensity, and lack of offensive zone possession stalled Andover’s momentum.
After the game, Assistant Captain Kyle Moss ’15 said, “We let up mentally and physically, stopped pursuing pucks hard, stopped crashing the net and stopped doing the little things right that we did against Choate and some of the better teams that we’ve won against. That kind of came back and haunted us in the end.”
Captain Erik Wurman ’15 added, “Coming off this past tie, I think we looked a little slow and didn’t really have the energy we really needed. We didn’t quite make the plays, especially the hard plays, and win the battles that we needed to win, so we were sort of just a little lackadaisical. [We] gave up a breakaway and then gave up too much time in the zone.”
In addition, Andover will concentrate on improving its special teams’ performance. “Our power play hasn’t produced, and if we’re going to be successful, we’re going to need an exceptional power play,” Levine said.
Michael McGreal ’17 added, “On the penalty kill we need to stay out of the box.”
Andover has a tough challenge ahead with a head-to-head against an undefeated Exeter squad this Saturday. Earlier in the season, Exeter defeated New Hampton, who beat Andover 4-3, by an 8-2 margin.
“I feel that the team is starting to gear up now after two big wins. Practice has been high-tempo, and I feel we need to step up to the next gear against Exeter this week,” said Nugent.
Wurman continued, “The Exeter game is always a fun one. As long as the energy level is there, I think we’ll be alright. We know how to play, we just didn’t quite execute [on Wednesday].”
The team will look to spoil Exeter’s unblemished season with an upset this Saturday.
