With seven unanswered goals, Andover Boys Soccer showcased an abundance of offensive firepower in the 7-0 victory against Holderness after falling to Loomis 0-1. The team faced Loomis under home lights in Phelps Stadium on Friday night, forcing numerous turnovers that transitioned into dangerous goal scoring opportunities in the first half. After allowing a goal, Andover was unable to respond in the final half. The defeat and the subsequent victory mean that Boys Soccer currently stands at a record of 1-1-2.
According to Alex Torrens ’24, the team expected a challenging game against Loomis, a team that has played with strength and at a high tempo.
“I think the biggest difference between Loomis and other teams we faced, like Belmont [Hill] and Milton, was their physicality and speed. Their midfield was much bigger than ours and their wingers were really fast, so we had to match up for that better,” said Torrens.
According to Gio Pagliuca ’23, Andover had a productive week of preparation after a 0-0 tie against Milton, but was aware of the challenge Loomis would present.
“Loomis was probably the best team we have played so far this season. We played Milton earlier in the week, which was a good warmup to Loomis,” Pagliuca said.
According to Co-Captain Derek Polanco PG’22, although Andover fell in a close match, the team put in maximum effort.
“We knew it was going to be a tough game, but I think after everything we gave, like the heart we poured out onto that field… It was devastating not to come away with the win. But again, we knew they were a good team. We can’t be disappointed with our performance; we played well,” said Polanco.
Torrens believed that the atmosphere and support from playing in a home game served as motivation for the team.
“During the game, I think it hurt us a bit when we went down, but honestly, having the bench much closer to us, all the crowd, and the Blue Key Head chants [motivated us]. I think that kept us going. We pulled through and almost got an equalizer,” said Torrens.
As the Loomis game was still early in the season, it served as a benchmark to build off of in future practices and matchups, according to Polanco and Torrens. The loss pushed the team to achieve its full potential leading up to the game against Holderness on Wednesday.
“I think after these games, seeing where we are in comparison with a team like Loomis will give us the motivation we need to go out there next game… go out in practice and work on what we need to. Once we face them again we’ll be prepared,” said Polanco.
“We had really high standards and high hopes for ourselves, but we kind of just took this as like, ‘It’s early in the season, and now we know what we need to work on.’ We just got ready for Monday… back into practice and ready to get better.”
Andover Boys Soccer will be looking for another win at Taft this Saturday.
