Friday 10/20 – Andover: 15, St. John’s Prep: 9
With the exciting Family Weekend atmosphere, Andover Water Polo (3-9) took the win over St. John’s Prep (St. John’s) on Friday in front of the home crowd. With a close loss earlier in the season against St. John’s, Andover turned the tables to seal the victory.
Jeffrey Lim ’27 shared how the two recent wins for the team had helped it find its footing with the players. Specifically, they focused on gathering players’ individual performances into a cohesive team.
“When we first started off, we knew we had the pieces, but we couldn’t piece them together. However, over the season, after a few losses and some wins, we came to the conclusion that we were there and just needed to work harder over the course of the season. The pieces connected during the game, and we were able to have a great second and third quarter,” said Lim.
Sean Niu ’25 credited this win to the team’s mental focus and energy. After falling to St. John’s in a narrow 7-8 game earlier in the season, Andover was preparing for a comeback.
“We beat St. John’s because we all had our heads in the game, and we were focused on taking home the win for our families and our Seniors,” said Niu.
Zach Godsey ’25 applauded the team for its improvement, particularly in the offensive zones. Godsey noted that there are many skills to work on in the last stretch of the season.
“Our vision across the field has gotten a lot better. There is still room for improvement, but it has been a lot better since the start of the year. We have also been finishing very well, scoring the opportunities we have had,” said Godsey.
Lim commended everyone for their impressive performances during the game, particularly highlighting Raphael J. Sibuet ’24 for making an impressive debut after an injury. As well as Jonathan Ji ’24, Samuel Lee ’24, Jason Kokones ’25, and Andrew Chinn ’24 as key figures during the game.
Lim said, “Although I stress that everyone did an incredible job during the game, Jonathan Ji ’24 is our captain, and he had seven goals. [Sibuet] wasn’t there at all in the first St. John’s game, which was a big loss; however, he came back [this time] and scored three goals… Samuel Lee had nine saves in total, two steals, and only let in two goals, which is an incredible tally.”
Despite the win, Godsey noted that more precise passing could help them against stronger opponents in the next few games.
Godsey said, “Keeping the ball dry and passing out of pressure is something that we need to work on [and] finding and capitalizing on opportunities by passing.”
Lim stressed the importance of the upcoming games scheduled for the team. He hopes that Andover can follow its game plan and progress it has made this season, and continue to learn to work as a unit.
“The game against Deerfield will be quite tough, but we have become a much better team overall since we last played them. I don’t really think that the score will be the important factor, but I think that the progress that we made and seeing it translate will be very important. But finding that last piece of the puzzle will be incredibly important in order to improve significantly across the board,” said Lim.
Boys Water Polo will travel to Deerfield this Saturday.
