After stealing the puck and toe-dragging around a Choate defenseman, Co-Captain Lilly Feeney ’20 shot the puck into the top corner of the goal, helping Andover to achieve a 7-0 win against Choate this past Saturday.
Team member Molly MacQueen ’21 said, “I think we played the best that we have all season against Choate, but they also weren’t our strongest competition. Being able to maintain that strong offense and confidence as we play harder teams will be really big.”
Despite the dominant win over Choate just three days prior, Andover fell to Brooks 2-1 on Monday. The team’s record now stands 6-3.
According to Indi Wagner ’22, Andover has struggled with its power play throughout the season but managed to get it in check against Brooks.
Wagner said, “I think that we had some really good looks from the defense and really consistent stretch passes when the other team was changing and also I think our power plays were much more successful than in our past games. We were able to keep it in their zone for longer periods of time.”
According to Liv Nolan ’20, the team needs to focus on defense no matter the score, as things can turn around quickly when the opposing team gains offensive momentum.
“I think we had a pretty good game against Choate, but something that we can always work on is our coverage down low in the d-zone. You just have to be really conscious about who your girl is so that she doesn’t slip away from you and get out front for a scoring opportunity,” said Nolan.
Against Brooks, Andover maintained possession and controlled the puck in the offensive zone, but wasn’t able to score in the most crucial moments of the game, according to Gwyn Lapp ’22.
Lapp said, “In terms of aggressiveness, we were all over them and we had complete control of the puck throughout most of the game, especially in the offensive zone. We wore out their defense, and I think we had a lot of scoring opportunities, but it was just one of those games where [we had] bad puck luck and we couldn’t really finish.”
Going forward, Andover seeks to improve its shot selection and make use of its scoring opportunities, according to Nolan.
Nolan said, “Brooks’ goalie played really well, but taking shots from anywhere on the ice can be a way to get inside the goalie’s head. If the game’s ever tied in the future, we need to play strong. Just throwing the puck at the net doesn’t seem like it would go in, but that can create crucial scoring opportunities.”
Andover Girls Hockey will face St. Paul’s at home next Saturday.
