Kai Myles ’27 smoothly maneuvers the ball around the St. Sebastian opponent.
Andover 1 – 1 Choate
Andover 3 – 2 St. Sebastians
Andover 3 – 0 Pingree
Boys Soccer dominated against tough opponents and played with strong offensive gameplay, capping the last five days with a draw and two wins. Kai Myles ’27 shined on the offensive line — scoring four of the seven goals for the team.
Andrew Rodrigues ’27 commended his teammates, Myles, Elijah Robinson ’25, and Co-Captain Jack Alexander ’25 for their lockdown defense, scoring the only goal, and saving numerous difficult shots, respectively, in its match against Choate.
“Elijah Robinson played really well because he was playing left, he was playing in the back, and he didn’t really let anyone through, also definitely Kai because he put the ball in the net. He was just a great attacker throughout the entire game. Also, Jack for sure. Jack made a few really good saves,” said Rodrigues.
The team controlled the flow of the game against Choate. They started strong offensively in the first half and passed around the ball efficiently, forcing Choate to drop back deep into its own half, noted Rodrigues. Although Choate equalized on a penalty kick, its goalie made a kick save to deflect the game-winning shot by Co-Captain Spencer Madge ’25 just over the crossbar.
Rodrigues said, “We controlled the game almost the entire time. The whole team worked together, we were passing the ball around like Barcelona. The best part was how we made the other team park the bus, and it really showed our strength as a team.”
Although Andover struggled with keeping composure during referee calls, it kept up much better against St. Sebastian’s. Andover opened the scoring five minutes in from 30 yards out by Marc Nelson ’25. Midway through the first half, St. Sebastian’s equalized on a defensive scramble. In the second half, both teams fought hard, though Myles scored the game-winner from the edge of the box.
“I would say in the box, the defenders got unlucky. But just controlling ourselves during the Choate game was tough because there were a lot of controversial plays. Although we tied the game, it was hard to maintain our emotions throughout. But in the St. Sebastian’s game, we faced similar controversial calls, and the whole team controlled themselves pretty well, so we learned from that,” said Rodrigues.
Rodrigues continued, recalling Head Coach Joe Donnelly’s pep talk during halftime, which helped the team come out of the game with a hard-fought win to be able to compete for the playoffs.
“That halftime moment really made us buckle down. He said ‘a great team always finds a way to win, even when they’re playing badly.’ So, I think the team really came together to find that last goal and make it a 3-2 win for us,” said Rodrigues.
Following the St. Sebastian’s match, Madge commended Paul Gichana ’25, who put immense pressure on the Pingree defense and scored the last of the three goals.
“Paul Gichana stood out today with his non-stop engine and motor. He was running all game, hustling for balls and constantly keeping their defenders on their toes by being an attacking threat,” said Madge.
During the match, the team exploited Pingree’s weaknesses to heighten its chances of scoring, commented Madge.
“Their backline was a weakness, especially their outside backs. As a result, players such as Marc Nelson or Paul Gichana were able to attack them all game especially taking them down the line with speed and dusting them and creating an offensive chance whether it be a cross or a cut back,” said Madge.
Although a shutout game against Pingree, Edrian Vargas ’27 noted how the team could have worked on finishing the ball more effectively.
“We had a lot of chances but only scored three goals, so there’s always room for improvement… We’ll probably focus on getting enough rest since this was our third game this week. We’ll make sure everyone sees the trainer and stays healthy, and then we’ll just play the way we always do,” said Vargas.
Boys Soccer plays St. Paul’s on Friday at home.
