Molly Boyle ’25 looks across the rink for an open teammate.
12/19: Andover 3 – 3 Loomis
1/8: Andover 8 – 1 Governor’s
Girls Hockey played against Loomis Chaffee (Loomis) and Governor’s Academy, coming out with one win and one loss respectively. It lost against Loomis on December 19th during the Taft Tournament, but it was able to bounce back this past Wednesday against Governor’s with a hard fought win.
Avery Rodheffer ’25 spoke on the tournament game, explaining the style and seeding for the games. She also brought up the atmosphere at the rink and spoke about what it was like to be on the ice.
Rodheffer said, “Our game against Loomis was a round-robin game, which is when your team is seeded based off of the past year’s tournament. We had three guaranteed games, and only four teams advanced out of that. Teams that win all three games go to the final. We play four games in two days so it’s pretty tiring. We were at Taft, which has a huge rink, so it’s a lot of space to fill so sometimes it can feel kind of empty in there.
Additionally, Kimberly Duplessis ’27 brought up the change in play style from the team’s game against Taft to their game against Governor’s. She highlighted the team’s competitive drive and ability to find its flow to take them down.
“We tried to be as competitive as we could throughout the game. At the beginning, Emily Mara [’25] scored her first goal of the game and then Governor’s came back and tied it one-to-one so that immediately flipped a switch for us, so we needed to come back and be strong. We fought hard throughout the game, but we definitely found our rhythm and just kept scoring,” said Duplessis.
Vanessa Hall ’28 reflected on the game, noting how it evolved into a high-scoring shootout. She praised Duplessis for her standout performance, particularly her early goal that set the tone for the match.
Hall said, “The game was really back and forth, and I forget who scored first but we got on the board first. Then they would score right after, and it kept going like that. Eventually, at the beginning of the third period, we had a four-on-one and Kimmy scored, which was definitely a momentum shift for us which let us play a really great game even though we could not come out on top.”
Reflecting on the game, Rodheffer observed the challenges the team encountered, particularly their struggle to control the pace of play. She emphasized that this inability to dictate the tempo left the team constantly playing catch-up.
“Our main weakness was how we started the game and how we let them dictate the first period, which left us in a goal or two deficit. We were able to rally and get our energy back after that period, but it’s tough to start down… We’re working on a lot of special teams and breakouts, just making sure the team has chemistry. And mainly going against any opponent, we’re just focusing on our own game,” said Rodheffer.
Girls Hockey will go on the road to face off against Choate on Saturday.
