With seven minutes left in the game, Captain Will Raphael ’18 received the ball over the head of a Worcester center back and shot it into the back of the goal. The game ended in a 1-2 loss. On Saturday, Andover had a stalemate 0-0 tie against Deerfield. The team’s record now stands at 4-4-3.
According to Head Coach Edwin Escobar, Andover’s defense was extremely strong in its game against Deerfield.
“Will was our engine, and at Deerfield, he was, without question, the best player on the field. Hayden [Weatherall ’18] and Andrei [Dumitrescu ’18] were also key players for us, as they kept Deerfield’s leading scorer off the scoreboard and limited his touches on the ball,” wrote Coach Escobar in an email to The Phillipian.
Weatherall also noted that the team’s defensive success was highlighted by its teamwork.
“We worked as a team, especially more in the second half than in the first half. The only way that Deerfield was going to score was over the top, and after minor communication issues in the first half, we closed that down in the second,” said Weatherall.
Goalkeeper Max Levi ’19 was also crucial to Andover’s success, defending multiple shots on goal, according to Coach Escobar.
“Max is always strong in goal and no matter the opponent, Max is always going to show up and give you 100 percent. He is one of our future leaders and an essential piece of the puzzle,” said Coach Escobar.
A major factor in Andover’s game against Deerfield was the weather condition, specifically the rain because it made the field soft and muddy.
“The rain was definitely an equalizer. The wet conditions made players slip everywhere. It was very hard to keep my footing,” said Weatherall.
Charlie Murphy ’19 said, “We dominated them in possession. We dominated in chances. We were just unable to score. The conditions in the grass made it pretty tough to hit the ball hard.”
“We have a tough team, and it showed as the team did not seem bothered by the weather. In fact, I felt that we played some of our better soccer even though we did not score,” said Coach Escobar.
According to Isaac Hershenson ’20, Raphael’s goal gave Andover one last effort to try and even the score.
Hershenson said, “We got really fired up. We kept pushing for the last minutes, but it didn’t go our way to score the last goal. We just need to do better in the attacking third, make sure to create chances. We were doing it more in the second half, but we need to be more dangerous.”
Andover will play Kimball Union Academy this Saturday.