Lauren Herlihy ’25 was one of four to take the draw in Andover Girl La- crosse’s game against North Hampton.
Siobhan Reidy ’23 looks for an open teammate.
Andover Girls Lacrosse went 1-1 to open its season, defeating New Hampton 14-5 and losing to Middlesex 8-4.
Quiana Bell ’26 highlighted some of the key components and players in Saturday’s game against New Hampton. The beginning-of-season energy was a confidence booster for Andover in its first official game of the season.
“Our team’s shining moment that helped elevate our score and our cohesiveness as a team was the draw. Just a big shout-out to everyone who was on the circle. It was [Co-Captain] Grace Hammond [’23], Lauren Herlihy [’25], Neicia Smith [’25], and Shea Freda [’24], and they really dominated the draw control. That really helped boost our team’s confidence in the beginning of the game, when we were tied. And then I think our transitions, as well as our defensive work looked really good [too],” said Bell.
Bell continued, describing the play that served as the foundation for Saturday’s game. Bell noticed teammates becoming increasingly more comfortable with one another as the game went on.
“We played a ‘backer,’ which is basically when one person is behind the ball, so there’s basically always a double-on-ball. So the communication had to be really good between the defenders and [midfielders], talking about who had the ball, who was sliding, who had two [players]. I think as the game progressed, we got a lot better and better at that, and just communicating with each other and communicating between all the different sides of the field,” said Bell.
In an email to The Phillipian, Head Coach Heidi Wall ’94 described how there were both positives and negatives to take from Wednesday’s game against Middlesex. Andover was ultimately overpowered after several penalties that broke the team’s initially strong defensive line.
“Some calls didn’t go our way and we ended up having to play a player down for six minutes of the game. That made it tougher than it needed to be. Middlesex was able to capitalize on those situations, and then again at the end when we needed to try and get the ball back. We are excited to learn from the game and come back ready for the next. Molly Boyle [’25] played her first game ever as a lacrosse goalie and came up big with six saves. We are so proud of her,” wrote Wall.
Hammond detailed aspects that Andover looks to improve upon heading into its game against Groton.
“For this next upcoming week, we’re going to be working on our offense. Working together to make sure we’re generating stuff on the attacking end and working to solidify our plays. [Also] build team confidence and a good atmosphere. Our defense really did very well today, which I think is something I think we can be very proud of,” said Hammond.
Andover Girls Lacrosse will host Groton on Saturday, Noble & Greenough on Monday, and Deerfield on Wednesday.
