After having played 14 games this season, Andover’s Boys Hockey has scored 52 goals and conceded 51.
In a high-scoring season where three of Andover Boys Hockey’s games have had ten goals or more, the team has yet to shut out any of its opponents.
Dribbling the puck down the ice and weaving through St. Paul’s defense, Jack Bainbridge ’24 scored his first goal of the season and what proved to be the winning goal. Thanks to its strong offense, Andover Boys Hockey defeated St. Paul’s 4-2, but then followed up this victory with two consecutive losses against Phillips Exeter Academy and St. Sebastian’s, 2-3 and 4-8 respectively. Its record now stands at 9-7.
According to Chase Anderson ’25 and Sam Myles ’24, the team was able to create many scoring opportunities in the offensive third of the rink against St. Paul’s, while the defense stood strong throughout the game.
In an email to The Phillipian, Anderson said, “The offense and defense were both strong during the game. The offense [was] able to put a lot of shots on the other team’s goalie and [was] able to capitalize quite a few times. The defense was very good at keeping scoring chances from the other team minimal and whenever they got shots, our goalie was able to make key saves.”
Myles added, “I think we both played really strong. I think we did a good job getting a lot of shots on net and our defense was really strong, breaking up plays and moving the puck across the ice. I feel like everyone did a good job of creating offense, even the defense. Everyone did a good job shooting pucks and scoring.”
According to Rory Booth ’23, in order to create a potential playoff run, the team needs to improve on working together in the defensive end of the rink.
“I would say, offensively we’ve been doing really well especially in that game, but just a couple more things to clean up defensively. I think, and this is something our coach touched on as well, systematically being in the right position, supporting teammates, and communicating better in our defensive zone is what prevents us from getting scored on as much as we are. It’s not bad, it’s just something we need to clean up especially since we’re more than halfway done with our season and we’re getting closer to the chance of playing the playoffs, it’s something that we really need to clean up and we’re going to get there.” Booth said.
According to Booth, one of the team’s strengths is its well-balanced offense, which provides a constant offensive threat throughout the game.
“Offensively, I would say one of the things that make us stand out from other teams is that our depth in who is scoring is wider. A lot of teams have one or two lines that do a lot of the scoring, but everyone is scoring on our team which is good. And we’re getting a lot of points from defensemen as well, which is really helpful,” Booth said.
According to Myles, leading up to the game the team recreated game situations and worked on its defensive play.
Myles said, “I feel like [Head Coach Paul Tortorella ’80] just has us do a lot of game-like situations, systems, power plays. [He] has done a really good job preparing us for every game.”
Boys Hockey’s next game will be at home on Saturday, against Noble and Greenough.
