Dapa Conneely PG’20 is one of Andover Boys Hockey’s starting forwards.
In the second period against BB&N, Will Hughes ’22 carried the puck over center ice and slipped in between two defensemen before netting Andover’s second goal, leading Andover Boys Hockey to its tenth win of the season. Over the weekend, Andover defeated Brooks 7-5 and BB&N 3-0, but fell to Northfield Mount Hermon 4-2 on Wednesday. The team’s record now stands at 10-18.
Andover’s decisive win over Brooks snapped the team’s seven-game losing streak. Andover’s offense struggled in its games leading up to Brooks, but the team was able to put up seven goals. This offensive burst was possibly due to the team’s cooperation on the ice, according to Head Coach Paul Tortorella ’80 and Lucas Brown ’22.
“The forwards and the defense were working in unison in all three zones,” said Tortorella.
“We got a lot of chances. The offense played very well because we created a lot of chances for ourselves and got some shots on net,” added Brown.
Beating both Brooks and BB&N was important to finishing the season strong, according to Tortorella.
“We certainly want to end the season strong, and this past weekend was the beginning of the end of the season. So it was important,” said Tortorella.
Against both Brooks and BB&N, Andover played with a lot of energy for the whole game, according to Tortorella.
“Something the team did well in both games was to get off to a good start on the opening shift and bring intensity all three periods,” said Tortorella.
Despite many of Andover’s players sidelined with injuries, the team still held on in their game against NMH, according to Brown.
“Against NMH, we got a lot of shots on net and played solid defense which is what kept us in the game, even though we had a lot of people out,” said Brown
In preparation for its game against Phillips Exeter Academy, Andover will continue to work on creating opportunities on offense, according to Brown.
Brown continued, “The main thing we want to keep working on is getting shots on the net. That is a big thing for us because we normally get outshot.”
As Andover prepares to face Exeter, the team wants to keep in mind its ongoing goal of representing the school well, according to Tortorella.
“I think the mentality going into the final week is to make Andover proud of our commitment to playing the best hockey we can and to bring our very best to each remaining practice and game. That is the focus,” said Tortorella.
Brown said, “Everyone knows that it’s a big game, so we want to compete and obviously win in front of the home crowd and take it to them.”
The team will face Exeter on Saturday for its final game of the season.
