Corralling a pass from fellow defenseman Rob Bakerian ’15, Assistant Captain Kyle Moss ’15 rocketed a one-timer under the goalie’s blocker to tie the game 1-1 early in the second period against Loomis Chaffee on Saturday.
“We were on the power play and we were just working it around trying to open up a lane in their defense when Rob gave me a pass from the wing and I just took a one-timer that beat the goalie,” said Moss.
After conceding a goal later in the period, the team came back to tie the game once again with a goal from Jack Orne ’15. The team took the lead when Collin Nugent ’16 scored 11 minutes into the third period.
Despite holding the lead with seven minutes to go, Andover was unable to keep Loomis out as it equalized the score two minutes later, then scored the game-winning goal with 30 seconds left.
Andover’s loss against Loomis marked the team’s fourth straight defeat and brought its record to 5-9-2.
After the game, starting forward Tyler Levine ’16, who recorded the assist for Nugent’s goal, said, “It’s hard to say [we did] well considering the outcome and especially once you take into account the fact that we’ve lost the past four games in a row.”
Although four straight defeats can be discouraging, these results do not reflect the nature of the team’s recent performances. Andover’s four most recent games have all been decided by one- or two-goal margins. Playing against an undefeated Exeter team last month, for example, Andover battled intensely throughout the whole game only to concede a goal in the final minutes of OT.
When asked what area of the team’s performance needs improvement, Levine said, “The last ten minutes of every game.”
Moss added, “We did well coming out strong and playing the entire game with the intensity we needed, but we need to figure out how to finish the game. Although we battled for the whole 54 minutes, we still came out with a loss, and we need to find ways to win those kind of games.”
The next game at Deerfield on Wednesday ended in a 4-4 deadlock. Holding a 4-2 lead going into the third, Andover once again faltered towards the end of the game. Nevertheless, the result was a significant improvement from the team’s last encounter with Deerfield in which Andover lost 3-8 in the Flood-Marr Tournament.
Moss tallied two goals while Nugent and Joey Harrington ’15 scored the other two for Andover.
Defenseman Payton Jancsy ’16 said, “We did not meet our own expectations in terms of performance. There were times when we work hard and play with high intensity. When we play like that for 54 minutes, I truly think we are unstoppable. There were other times tonight when we played with little intensity. During those times, we gave Deerfield the momentum they needed to get back in the game. Tonight we had chances to put them away, but we lowered our intensity levels.”
Andover will look to earn a much-needed win against Belmont Hill on Friday.
