Andover: 7 Choate: 11
Andover: 10 Sacred Heart School: 21
On Saturday, Girls Water Polo lost in a double-header against Choate and Sacred Heart School. The team has faced challenges with players getting rolled and a lack of player substitution.
Leading up to the game, the team focused on defensive techniques after coming off a loss against Phillips Exeter Academy. The team focused on scrimmage-style plays to prepare for offensive pressure, noted Mira Patodia ’26.
“In the practices leading up to the games, we did a lot of six-on-five practice, which is when one of you, when the opposing team, is down a player. This helps us to get our defense really ready. We practiced that a lot, and we also worked on getting open and driving to the net top for more passes and shooting,” said Patodia.
In the games, the team faced offensive and defensive pressures, preventing the center from making offensive advancements. However, wing players were stepped up to create offensive plays, noted Co-Captain Molly MacKinnon ’24.
“In the first game, I played the center forward position, and I was definitely getting dropped on. I had multiple players guarding me, and I wasn’t really able to get shots on and shots off. There were a lot of players on the perimeter of the pool who really stepped up to create motion and create movement on offense and ended up scoring a lot of goals from those perimeter players,” said MacKinnon.
Adelaide Morales ’25 highlighted Addison Deng ’26, a hole set on the team for her offensive and defensive prowess.
Morales said, “Addison Deng played really well. She really stepped into hole and then was crazy on defense and was just always really active and always gave it her best. She’s really stepped up this season, and she’s a really good team contributor.”
During both games, the team had to adjust to playing with only five players. MacKinnon explained how players getting rolled impacted the outcome.
“I got kicked out of the first game, and then we had another player get kicked out of the second game or like rolled, not just ejected… So we really had to expect people to step up, but we also had to play like a man down for a lot of time. Getting used to those situations is super important, and we worked on that a lot leading up [to] the games,” said MacKinnon.
The team kept high morale, despite challenges with the lack of substitute players. Patodia expanded on the environment of the double header.
Patodia said, “The atmosphere was really nice. It was really positive. We had very few people, so we kind of [did] not [have] a lot of subs. It was just really close-knit, like usual, but it was a lot of fun, and everyone was trying their best, which also made a great atmosphere for the game itself.”
Morales expanded on Patodia’s point, highlighting the team’s persistence against competition.
“We’re really hard workers. We usually don’t have a lot of subs this season, just because a lot of people are in and out of injuries and it’s a really aggressive game, and you’re trying not to drown for 24 minutes, two games in a row against really aggressive people with a lot more subs. So we’re a really hardworking team, and we give it our best effort,” said Morales.
Morales continued, noting the next steps for the team.
“We’re going to be working on a lot more on communication just because we’re a really fast team and we get up fast, so we just need to be on the lookout for if there [are] any people on the opposite team staying behind that aren’t being guarded,” said Morales.
Looking ahead, Girls Water Polo will play a double header at home against Williston Northampton and Greenwich Academy on Saturday.
