Anna Hurley ’21 crossed a ball to Maddy Silveira ’20, who kicked it over the goalie and into the net. This goal was one of three in Andover Girls Soccer’s 3-1 win over Deerfield at home on Sunday. Andover later lost at Noble and Greenough 0-5 Wednesday, putting its record at 7-7-1.
On Sunday, Andover focused on executing its game plan in order to find success against Deerfield, according to Emma Fogg ’21.
Fogg said, “We weren’t expecting to win [against Deerfield], but we knew we had the tools to be able to win and we could win if we played [our game.] I thought we were able to complete the plan really well, and I thought that game was one of our bigger successes of the season.”
According to Fogg, despite giving up a goal to Deerfield, Andover kept up its high energy.
“We had a bit of a breakdown on the defense because of miscommunication that resulted in that one goal against us, but I think one of the things we did really well was when we scored we kept pushing. We didn’t let up when they scored, and we continued to keep pressure up and keep the high intensity against Deerfield,” said Fogg.
According to Isabella Di Benedetto ’20 and Katherine Marquis ’21, Andover took control of the ball against Deerfield.
“For the Deerfield game we were able to out-possess them which lead us to split their defense in the midfield and score goals,” wrote Di Benedetto in an email to The Phillipian.
“Against Deerfield, we connected our passes well and defended together as one unit. We knew that we had to keep putting pressure on their goalie because it was rainy, so there would be more rebounds than normal, and we executed it too. We had many more chances to score too because our midfielders and forwards connected passes well and made smart runs and passes,” said Marquis.
Coming off of the win against Deerfield, the team was excited to play Nobles, according to Fogg.
Fogg said, “We really wanted to use the momentum we had against Deerfield to do well against Nobles, considering this week we really needed to win or tie against Nobles. I feel like the energy we had was really good. We were coming out of it really strong and we were able to execute many of the things we wanted to coming into that game.”
Against Nobles, Andover persevered throughout the whole regardless of the score, according to Fogg and Marquis.
“Against Nobles, we kept our head high and never gave up. After halftime, we came out and played hard until the end of the game, even though we were down. Also, executed our strategy of marking their top players and had a lot of opportunities to score,” said Marquis.
Despite the outcome, Andover distributed the ball well throughout the backfield against Nobles, according to Fogg.
“Even though it was not what we wanted, we definitely executed quite a few things well. We were able to pass the ball a few times and distribute out the back through Emily [Hardy ’20] which I thought was really important,” said Fogg.
Fogg said, “Our takeaway from [the game against Nobles] was to keep playing Andover’s game and keep trying to not give up. A lot of people kept pushing through and didn’t give up, and especially [Head Coach Lisa Joel] was talking about how this game sort of represented life, where even though things didn’t go well, you still dig deep and you keep pushing through.”
Silveira’s received the accolade of “Player of the Game” for the past two games due to her drive despite the score and her attitude, according to Hailey Lovell PG ’19 and Di Benedetto.
Lovell said, “Maddy Silveira got Player of the Game this game too, and she worked really hard throughout the whole game. I think she’s someone who everyone should look up to. Like Lisa said today, if we’re up 10-0 or down 10-0, she would still give 100 percent and you wouldn’t know if we’re winning or losing. Everyone should play like her.”
Di Benedetto wrote, “Maddy Silveira embodies the perfect spirit of a teammate. If we are winning or losing, Maddy always works her hardest.”
Andover will host Lawrence Academy on Friday for Senior Night.
