Michael Staii ’27, Co-Captain Jaeden Morgan ’28, and Ethan Brown ’27 protect Andover’s goal.
9/14 – Andover: 2, BB&N: 0
9/16 – Andover: 0, Nobles: 0
Boys Soccer (1–1–0) opened this year’s season with a dominant 2–0 win over BB&N on Monday, followed by a tie against Noble and Greenough (Nobles) this past Wednesday. The team looks forward to growth after last year’s season, where it finished with a record of 2–4–11.
Starting off the first game of the season, Chris Lee ’27 described the initial struggle yet eventual breakthrough as the team shook off the rust and started to bond. As the game progressed, Andover pulled away from BB&N and extended its lead for a 2–0 finish.
“It was a little shaky at first, and then we slowly began to break down the other team, little by little. It took a lot of hard work from a lot of people, and as the communication got better, everything slowly got better,” said Lee.
Lee described the team’s perseverance and response to that pressure as the team continued their attack despite the lead.
“BB&N started to fight back and play harder, but we held our own and worked really hard. Marco was able to put another goal in, and that kind of dictated the rest of the game. We didn’t let up even after Marko [Peric ’27] scored. We were still gunning for a third goal, and everything fell into [place],” said Lee.
Adam Sealfon ’29 elaborated on the preparation leading up to the game and how it laid the groundwork for the team’s result.
“Overall, our team chemistry was better than last year, and we believed that we could win. This mentality made us more united and helped us persevere through the game. At the same time, our focus on strategies and skill work in practice also helped set up our success,” said Sealfon.
Carrying that same preparation and chemistry into its next matchup against Nobles, Dillon Chugani ’27 described the mentality the team had heading into the game and the focus that it had.
“Today, we were focused on building off the result from Monday. We know we’re putting in a lot of good work. We’ve been at it for a few weeks now, way earlier than some other teams, and the focus was on being able to be ourselves and do our job,” said Chugani.
Despite the undesired outcome of a scoreless tie against Nobles, Chugani remained confident in the team’s ability and holds high expectations for the season. He emphasized that consistency and hard work will be the factors in determining the team’s success as the season progresses.
“We weren’t able to get the result, but we played well. We were ourselves, and we worked as a unit. That’s what we need to take away. As long as we keep working hard, we’ll be able to get the results in the future. We can’t stop with the intensity. It’s a long season, and we can’t get caught up on one day. We just have to keep going,” said Chugani.
The team will host Belmont Hill on Saturday.
