Girls Hockey Sports Winter Sports

GVH: Undefeated Streak Stretches to 15 Games

After pulling its goalie to field six offensive players with fewer than three minutes remaining in the third period, Andover Girls Hockey launched an all-out offensive onslaught against BB&N on Monday in an attempt to whittle down BB&N’s 2-0 lead. Before long, forward Sarah Rigazio ’18 received a pass from Charlotte Welch ’18 and slotted a pinpoint shot to the back of the net, bringing the score to 2-1. 13 seconds later, Post-Graduate Jacqueline Diffley ’16 found the net to tie the game at 2-2 and preserve Andover’s officially undefeated season. A 3-1 win over St. Mark’s and 4-2 victory over Cushing brought Andover’s season record to 11-0-4.

Against BB&N, Andover struggled to find its groove early in the game and BB&N took advantage of this sluggishness.

Rigazio said, “We came out really slow and unprepared. BB&N was ready to go, and right from the start, they capitalized on our slowness and mistakes. I think the thing that pulled us together was the energy and support that was coming from the bench; that motivated us to be able to come back.”

Despite Andover’s slow start, the team’s determination allowed it to rally and control the neutral zone of the rink in the later periods. “Toward the end of the game, I think we did a good job of stopping them in the neutral zone, which we had struggled with at the beginning of the game. That created a big change in the sway of things,” added Rigazio.

Diffley said, “Our strength was definitely our willingness to not give up until the buzzer had gone off. Our team was able to come back and tie the game due to [the high level of energy] provided by the bench.”

The tie against BB&N was preceded by an impressive victory over St. Mark’s on Saturday. After a scoreless first period, Emily Batchelor ’19 netted a goal during the second period and Elizabeth Welch ’18 scored two goals in the third period.

To wrap up its week, Andover clinched a 4-2 win against a winless Cushing team. The team roared off to a strong start, with Olivia Keefe ’17 netting a goal and Charlotte Welch scoring two to establish a 3-0 lead heading into the third period. Cushing managed to cut Andover’s lead to 3-2 in the third before Kaitlin Hoang ’17 secured the victory with a goal late in the third.

Now embarking on a stretch of challenging league games that includes a one-loss Noble & Greenough, Andover first welcomes Deerfield at home this Saturday.