Alex Lee ’25 shoots across the field.
10/11- Andover: 3, St. Paul’s: 0
10/16- Andover: 1, High Mowing: 5
On Friday, Boys Soccer secured a shutout at home against St. Paul’s School. The following Wednesday, the team faced High Mowing at home. Despite great efforts, Andover fell behind its opponent in the second half, ending with a 1-5 loss. Regardless, the loss to High Mowing does not impact the team’s rank in the league nor its playoff standing.
In the game against St. Paul’s, Kai Myles ’27 described the team’s strong play despite having several absent players. Myles shared how the team kept a high energy and focus throughout most of the game, continuing to put defensive pressure on their opponents even after scoring their first goal.
“Against St. Paul’s, although we walked in missing a few players, we still all lived up to what we had to do. Everybody was definitely focused on the game and making sure our win streak continues. We did this by making sure that we dealt with St. Paul’s the same way we dealt with Pingree and Choate. We tried to bring the same energy that we brought against them. Our players definitely stepped up,” said Myles.
Alex Mitarachi ’25 noted how ball movement was a key characteristic of Andover’s success in the game. Mitarachi emphasized how they were able to capitalize on St. Paul’s defensive weaknesses by strategizing together as a team and pulling coordinated plays.
“We were able to move the ball really well, and since they weren’t that strong and they weren’t pressing us that well, we were able to piece them together and break them down defensively, get an across, and finish them off,” said Mitarachi
After each goal, the team kept its focus on simply scoring the next one. Myles commented on how this mentality and energy lasted the entire game, ultimately resulting in a three goal win over St. Paul’s.
“The energy lasted throughout the game from the beginning to the end. After we scored that first goal, we kept on going and kept on pushing until we got the second and the third. Even after that, we kept on pushing and pushing. We couldn’t get the fourth, but it was still a great game by everybody,” said Myles.
Everett Woo ’25 underlined Mitarachi’s significant impact on the field with his dribbling and field awareness. Additionally, Mitarachi was an encouraging presence both on and off the field, consistently pushing teammates to put in maximum effort.
“I’d like to highlight Alexander Mitarachi. I thought he played really well overall. Specifically, his dribbling and distribution of the ball was key during the game. He also cheered us on a lot,” said Woo.
The team’s winning streak came to an end after facing High Mowing on Wednesday. Mitarachi stressed how the lack of communication between the players on the field led to a buildup of mistakes, though he also recognized the opponent’s strong performance.
“The first goal came off of a miscommunication between our center back and the goalie. A couple of other goals were just individual brilliance from the other team and we couldn’t really do anything against that. Nevertheless, a lot of the goals could have been avoided and we were dribbling too much in the final part and we should have shot more,” said Mitarachi.
Myles shared how the team had a strong turnaround from defense to counter-attacks against High Mowing. He noted how this was one of their first attempts at including that as a part of their defense, highlighting it as the next area the team will work towards improving.
“In the next practices, we will probably focus a lot on clearing the ball and a lot on our defensive shape, especially when it comes to counter-attacks. Our defense and who we send up makes sure that we have enough players available whenever we lose the ball and we get hit on the counter-attack. That’s what’s happened in the games recently, we have the ball and we get hit on the counter-attack. This is the first game where a team actually pounced on it, and of course, it’s just an area we need to work on,” said Myles.
Woo noted how in spite of offensive shutdowns from High Mowing, the team kept up their optimism. He hopes that the team can continue to carry its energy and positivity into its games for the remainder of the season.
“Everyone was really positive even when we went down and they scored goals. The bench was really positive, uplifting the people on the field with good energy. That’s the energy we need throughout the season. It’s easy to have energy when we win, but when we lose and the team comes together and still cheers us on, that’s really great,” said Woo.
Boys Soccer will play at Northfield Mount Hermon this Saturday.
