With less than two minutes left on the overtime clock, Ryder Garnsey ’15 whipped past his defender and fired a rocket into the deep right hand corner of the net to seal a 15-14 victory for Andover Boys Lacrosse over Deerfield on Saturday at Phelps Stadium. This win shattered the 23-year-long winning streak that Deerfield held against Andover and marked Andover’s seventh win in a row this season.
Captain Tim Bulens ’15 said, “We knew it was going to be a tough game. Everyone was going to have to give 110 percent and leave everything out on the field. Hard work and smart play have been essential to our season so far and were more important than ever that game. Each player who stepped on the field gave their full effort, and it paid off in the end.”
Head Coach Stephen Moreland said, “The team was confident and determined going into the Deerfield game and played that way all night. Our defense played great against an extremely talented and well coached Deerfield offense. They are very hard to cover. Jack Lu ’16 did a terrific job in goal, and to a man, the defenders in front of him played their hearts out.”
Garnsey added, “Going into the game, everybody was ready to go, chomping at the bit. Everybody had been practicing at a great pace leading up to the game, so we felt like we were prepared. We weren’t worried as much about what they were doing necessarily, and we felt like if we played as well as we were capable of playing we would fare well.”
Leading 3-1 at the end of the first quarter, Andover focused on maintaining its consistent play and strong tactics throughout the entirety of the game. The team was up 14-8 in the beginning of the fourth quarter and let Deerfield tie the score at 14-14, forcing the game into overtime. In the sudden death overtime, goalie Lu made a crucial save that allowed Andover to regain offensive possession and led to Garnsey’s game-winning shot.
Garnsey said, “Overtime is always exciting, and I think I can speak for everybody when I say that there [are] definitely butterflies in your stomach when you walk out on the field for sudden death. Thankfully, our defense came up huge in the last few minutes and got the clutch stops that we needed in order to get our offense the ball back and give us a chance to end it.”
Moreland said, “The plan going into the game was to take it to Deerfield and play to win. Even though momentum swung their way in the latter stages of the game, our mentality going into overtime was no different than when the game began. Lu made a huge save on the first possession of overtime, and then our offense sealed the deal. It was a great team win.”
Bulens said, “[Beating Deerfield has] been something I’ve wanted to do since my Junior year, and to cap off my Senior year with a win in overtime could not have been any sweeter.”
On Wednesday, Andover faced Tabor at home and finished with a decisive 13-9 win.
Throughout the game, the team focused on taking advantage of its shooting opportunities and maintaining its high level of play on both its offensive and defensive sides.
Tied 5-5 at halftime, Andover entered the second half of the game with newfound energy. The team scored two goals in the first two minutes of the third quarter, bringing the score to 7-5.
Late in the third quarter, Foster LeBoeuf ’15 fired a well-placed shot past the goalie, giving Andover a four-goal lead. LeBoeuf scored another goal in the beginning of the fourth quarter, extending Andover’s lead to 12-7.
LeBoeuf said, “Although we had a sloppy game today, we kept our legs moving and kept pushing transition, which lead to our guys being in the right positions to put the ball in the back of the net.”
The team looks to transfer its hard work during practices into another win on the field this Saturday against Loomis Chaffee.
“Before our game against Loomis, we’ve got to have a good couple days of hard practice and really make sure we come together even more as a team and play some good Andover lacrosse,” said LeBoeuf.
