Co-Captain Emily Mara ’25 scored one of three goals on Saturday’s game against NMH.
10/21 — Andover: 3, NMH: 0
10/25 — Andover: 2, Thayer: 5
Andover Girls Soccer (7-6) was motivated by the heavy rain when playing at home against Northfield Mount Hermon (NMH) on Saturday. On Wednesday, the team was let down by its leaky defense against Thayer Academy, conceding five goals.
Despite the poor conditions on Saturday, the prospect of playing during Family Weekend allowed Andover to head into the game with a positive mindset, according to Emily Decker ’26.
Decker said, “Everyone had a lot of energy because everyone’s parents were there so we were really motivated… It was super rainy and disgusting, but everyone [was] still excited for the game and having a good time.”
In the afternoon prior to the game, the team celebrated visiting family members with a family scrimmage and penalty kick shootout. Lola Aguirre ’26 explained how the practice created a fun and exciting atmosphere, while still setting the tone for the game the following day.
“To prepare for the game, we had our family scrimmage the day before where we had thirty family members come. We played some scrimmages which were a lot of fun. We mixed the teams with players and their families. [We] played for about 30 minutes, and just relaxed and enjoyed our family, but kept up the intensity knowing we had a game the next day,” said Aguirre.
Jackie Dill ’27 highlighted one of the team’s goals from the game against NMH.
Dill said, “A standout play in Saturday’s game was when [Co-Captain] Emily Mara ’25 took a shot that didn’t go in and then [Co-Captain] Jazzy [Cormier ’24] deflected it back out and then Hannah Jordan [PG’24] scored… No one was really expecting a goal in that play or for it to be scored from that, so it was a really exciting and well executed play.”
Aguirre appreciated the performance of Andover’s goalie Jill Reichenbach PG’24 on Wednesday, despite facing a tough opposition.
Aguirre said, “[Jill] is our goalie and as a goalie, especially when you are down in the game it can be hard to keep at it and stay strong despite letting in some goals. However, Jill stayed super strong and confident and made some really great saves especially in the second half. She was really great at communicating with the defenders and creating an attack. Our whole team is super proud of her.”
Looking ahead, Aguirre believes the team needs to work on being clinical in the final third of the field. The team acknowledges that it must improve upon its finishing to succeed in the final games of the season.
“Going forward into the end of the season we will continue to work on shooting and passing. Those are both vital components of the game. [In terms of] passing, we will work on making meaningful and effective passes and moving the ball in a way that creates an attack. For shooting we will continue to work on our technique and really take advantage of the opportunities that we have to take shots on the goal,” said Aguirre.
Andover Girls Soccer will play at Deerfield Academy on Saturday.
