Kimee Duplessis ’27 keeps the ball steady under her stick.
Sarah Lackley ’26 hits the ball across the field.
Andover: 7, St. Mark’s: 0
After playing more like a group of individuals
than a cohesive unit in its scrimmage against Rivers and Moses Brown, Andover Field Hockey came together and put forth a full team effort in its scrimmage against St. Mark’s. The team dominated the game and secured a big win. Now, the team looks ahead to the season with hopes of capturing the New England Preparatory School Athletic Council (NEPSAC) title.
Lucy Parker ’26 highlighted the team’s cohesion and the improvement in Andover’s ability to work together.
“It was honestly a full team effort. Everyone did their own individual thing in the previous scrimmage against Rivers. So going into this scrimmage, everyone knew their job and did their job, instead of shouting at one person. As a whole, every individual played pretty equally and it was more of a team effort than anything else,” said Parker.
Meg Stineman ’25 noted how some of the skills the team has been working on in practice such as identifying spaces to pass to, translated to the St. Mark’s scrimmage.
“In the second half, we were really pushing the ball and seeing the spaces to pass into and running onto the ball, which is something we’ve been working on. I also think that something that we could still work on is finishing in front of the net. We had a harder time doing that in the first half, but we started to get it by the second half. That just comes with chemistry and time. But continuing to do that work in practice is really important,” said Stineman.
Parker also mentioned that leading up to the team’s season opener on Saturday she anticipates the team will work on positioning effectively.
“Our structure, our counter structure, and also our structure to break the ball out
can have some improvements. We have really good sequences of being able to pass the ball
and see the inside-outside pass. But as we move forward in the season, making sure that
we have someone on the sideline and we have someone in the pocket and being able to use
those different passes effectively will definitely be something that we’ll continue to work on,” said Parker.
Josie Sarno ’26 emphasized that she hopes to see a good group effort and full focus from the team in the first game of the season to set the tone for the season ahead.
“The team effort and staying 100 percent locked in for the game for all 60 minutes, [will set] us up for having a good season,” said Sarno.
When asked what is the team’s goal for the upcoming season Parker wasted no time
expressing her and the rest of the team’s aspiration to win NEPSAC after falling just short the
past two years.
“Our goal is that we want to win NEPSAC. We’ve come up short two years in a
row, so the team is really excited to go after it this year. We know we have a long season ahead,
and while we want to be the best team in New England, it’s important for us to stay focused in
the moment, be aware of where we are, and stay present each day in practice. But I think
everyone, including me, is eager to push for a championship this year.” said Parker.
Field Hockey will play away at Thayer on Saturday in its season opener.
