Peyton Militello ’25 faces off against his opponent from Exeter.
1/17 – Andover: 5, St. Paul’s: 3
1/18 – Andover: 2, Exeter: 3
1/22 – Andover: 4, St. Sebastian’s: 4
Boys Hockey endured a demanding week filled with matches, playing back-to-back against St. Paul’s and Phillips Exeter Academy on Friday and Saturday, respectively. After securing a comfortable win against St. Paul’s, the team found itself in overtime against Exeter and eventually fell short. The stretch of games concluded with a tie against St. Sebastians on Wednesday.
Tyler Miocevich ’26 described key moments against St. Paul’s. He highlighted Rui Han ’25, whose early goal helped put Andover on the board, as well as Kieran McIntosh ’27, whose performance in the third period helped the team regain its momentum. Despite St. Paul’s efforts at catching up from its deficit, Alex Theodore ’27 sealed the victory with another goal.
“Rui got a big goal to start… Then, we had one when they started getting close. It was off a power play, it was a long power play, and we hadn’t scored for most of it. So it was kind of demoralizing, but right at the end, Kieran got a pass across during the power play and put it in. That kind of sealed the deal. After that, it was like a three-goal difference, and we had more breathing room,” said Miocevich.
Although Andover was coming from a win against Tilton, the team had struggled to regain momentum after winning the Flood Marr Tournament. However, Miocevich praised the team’s ability to rebound from the adversity they previously faced and highlighted its adaptability during the game against St. Paul’s.
“Coming into this game, we’d had some tough games along the stretch prior to it. We were really good about bouncing back, and we were super versatile in how we played. Just lifting each other up and powering through, keeping the momentum on our side the whole time. This game really helped us get our legs back under us. It felt really good,” said Miocevich.
Miocevich also reflected on the game against Exeter and noted how Andover began the game strongly. However, despite the 36 shots on goal that the team managed, they were only able to translate two into scores.
“Honestly, it was super tight the whole game. We were probably up by one or two, and then they battled back. We would get up again, and near the end, it was tied. That’s how it went into overtime. It was super tight throughout. They’re definitely a good team and a good match. I think they gave it a little extra because they knew it was us and our two teams are rivals,” said Miocevich.
On Wednesday, the team jumped to an early dominance against St. Sebastians. However, Nathan Kreppner ’27 noted that weak points in its defense allowed St. Sebastians to climb back and tie the score late into the game.
“We stuck to our plan to chip the puck deep and control the game. Throughout most of it, we were dominating offensively. But a few defensive mistakes led to St. Sebs finding the net very late in the game. Overall, though, the ice was tilted in our favor the entire time. You could obviously see we were the better team out there. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to keep our composure late in the game, and they were able to claw back,” said Kreppner.
With Andover playing four of its last six games in overtime, McIntosh described what the team has learned from these experiences and what it needs to adjust. He noted how the players need to stay composed under tense situations.
“We’ve learned that we need to close out games before they get to overtime, especially the ones where we’ve had the lead. We’ve learned that you can’t let it go to overtime because you never know what’s going to happen. When it does go to overtime, we’ve learned you’ve got to play it like it’s just a normal game, 5-on-5, stick to the systems, follow the game plan, and not add extra stress,” said McIntosh.
Looking ahead, Kreppner previewed the upcoming game against Noble and Greenough (Nobles) on Saturday. Andover had beaten Nobles in the final round of the Flood-Marr Tournament earlier this year. He emphasized how the team needs to stay consistent with its tactics while also changing its strategic plan to overcome previous weaknesses.
“Last time we played them, I think we shocked them physically and with how aggressive we were on the forecheck. It was pretty clear, we were on their defense quickly, and they couldn’t handle that. So they’re probably going to expect the same approach from us in this game, which might make it a little more difficult to execute what we usually do, getting the puck in deep and maintaining pressure. That’s still a huge part of our game, and we’ll stick to it, but this game might be lower-scoring. Last time, it was 6-4, but most of their goals came from odd-man rushes. We’ll need to tighten up defensively and keep the pressure down low,” said Kreppner.
Boys Hockey will play against Nobles this Saturday.
