Andover Boys Soccer huddles in its home opener against Milton on Wednesday.
Sebastian Mejia-Rivera ’25 played his first home game for Andover Boys Soccer on Wednesday.
This past Monday, Andover Boys Varsity Soccer won 7-1 against Belmont Hill, but fell short against Milton on Wednesday with a final score of 1-2. The team’s current record is 1-1.
Andover came out strong against Belmont Hill, according to Kai Myles ’27, who had one goal and one assist. The team was able to maintain its lead from the first minute to the 90th.
“It didn’t take us very long to get our first goal, [around] five to ten minutes [into the game]. We were in control from the start basically to the end. As the first half went on we just kept getting better and better,” said Myles.
Co-Captain Alex Torrens ’24 shared that the team implemented new tactics into its game preparations, such as videos and tactical sessions for pressing. Torrens highlighted the team’s ability to use its defense as a foundation and build from there, finding success in the midfield.
“One big thing we worked on is our pressing structure. So we’re trying something a bit different than last year, so we did a lot of videos and tactical sessions to work on our press. I think also something in the midfield, something that we did in this game was rotations. There was a lot of interchange, rotations, and combinations within the middle. We also did a good job building out the back,” said Torrens.
Myles highlighted the team’s strong communication and ability to identify areas of improvement. He also mentioned how the team takes on tasks to accomplish together.
Myles said, “I feel like we’re very mature players. We’re a very mature team. I don’t think anybody is not understanding their job at hand. I think everybody’s on the same page, so I think once we set the objective that ‘Hey, we need to do this better,’ we will do it as a team.”
In addition to continuing to work together, Myles also commented on the supportive and cohesive community of the soccer team, from both the players and the coaches.
Myles said, “Starting isn’t normal for Freshmen. [It’s] something I never experienced before, a full-on first-year against 18 and 19-year-olds, even PGs… There was a point where Ellis [Denby ’24], Torrens, Zane [Matraji ’24], all the players on the field, even the players on the bench, were just telling me to lift my head up because they know that I can play. That really helped and that made me feel very welcome.”
After seeing the team’s performance against Milton, Torrens shared his high hopes for the success of the team this season. He mentioned how crucial it will be to continue to take control of the games.
“We want to continue pressing, continue dominating the games and imposing their style… I think we can compete with anyone in this league,” said Torrens.
Myles also highlighted the team’s impressive start to the season. He noted how the powerful start is promising for the team’s end goal of winning the New England Preparatory School Athletic Council (NEPSAC) Championship.
Myles said, “I think it’s a good start for our team, especially with aspirations to make playoffs this year and actually win the NEPSAC, which I think we can.”
In Wednesday’s game against Milton, Boys Soccer lost 1-2 by a penalty kick in the last nine minutes of the game. Liam Rorke PG ’24 emphasized how evenly matched the team’s were, leading to a close game.
Rorke said, “Both teams had a lot of chances, [the] first half was much tighter than the second half. [It] opened up [in the second half] and it’s just unfortunate that we couldn’t get the win at the end of the day. But both teams played really hard and had tons of chances [to win], we’ll just grow from there.”
Rorke noted that the speed in the second half assisted the game and score, but also partially led to Milton’s penalty kick. He shared that the team will take what it learned from this game and use it in future ones.
“[The second half] became a lot more fast-paced. So that definitely helped the game and helped the score, but it was also one of the reasons why we ended up receiving the penalty and losing, so we’ll learn from it and move on,” said Rorke.
Boys Soccer will host Loomis Chaffee this Friday under the lights and compete this Sunday at the annual NXT LVL Showcase in Albany, N.Y.
