Kathleen Ty ’19 has played for Girls Water Polo since her Lower year.
Allyson Ty ’18 passed the ball off to Lindi Schroeder ’20 who drove hard to the right, freeing herself from the defender and firing the ball past the Suffield goalie, helping to increase Andover’s lead against Suffield Academy on Wednesday at home. Andover ultimately defeated Suffield 18-5.
Coming off of a loss against Phillips Exeter Academy last Wednesday, Andover worked hard in its practices leading up to the Suffield game in order to prepare both mentally and physically for the game. The effort the team put in practice was evident in its smart plays and passes, according to Jackie Rossi ’20 and Margot Hutchins ’20.
Rossi said, “We only had three practices since our last game, which we lost, so we worked hard on safe passes and communicating well between players. As a team we payed attention to being really vigilant in the water, and looking for opportunities to make safe passes and play smart.”
“The game went really well – everyone was communicating, applying what we’ve worked on in practice, and being really supportive. In practice, we’ve been working on stepping out from the defense to get open. We improved a ton, but definitely need to work on that skill to prepare for our upcoming game against Deerfield,” said Hutchins.
On offense, Ty stood out as a key attacker, with her strong and fast swimming enabling her to beat her defenders and place hard shots on net, according to Rossi.
“Ally is always so smooth when she shoots, and it looks really effortless. She is a fast swimmer, so she is usually able to outswim her defender and get the ball, and then she just swims up to the goal and shoots. Swimming plays a huge part for her,” said Rossi.
As a whole, the team made smart plays and moved the ball quickly and purposefully in order to open up space and create scoring opportunities. On defense, Andover was able to set up quickly and effectively in order to make defensive stops and steals, according to Hutchins.
“Offensively, we were passing a lot more and watching out for open players, which is something that we’ve worked on all week in practice,” said Hutchins. “Defensively, we were definitely setting up and working hard to steal the ball. Our goalies, Emma Chatson ’18 and Anna Lang ’19, were also incredible and really helped us block shots.”
Moving forward, Andover hopes to carry the momentum from this win, while also improving on its perimeter passing and limiting its offensive fouls, according to Hutchins.
Hutchins said, “As a team, we still need to work on stepping out and safely passing around the perimeter. We got a lot of offensive fouls called for pushing off of defensive players, so trying to build those skills will definitely be important, especially in preparation for Deerfield. But, overall, the team was playing incredibly well, communicating, being supportive, and working really hard, and we are all excited to see where the rest of the season takes us.”
Andover will face Deerfield away on Saturday
