The Andover Ultimate team defeated Newton North on Wednesday with a dominating score of 15-3, bringing a solid start to the team’s season. Returning players Duncan Crystal ’10, Turner Shaw ’11 and Josh Feng ’10 had highlight performances throughout the game, knocking down several Newton North passes and capitalizing on scoring opportunites. Captain Eli Grober ’09 also made important contributions to the game by leading the offense. During the first half of the game he strategized well, passing the frisbee upfield and waiting ahead of his defenders to help his teammates make the easy pass. Newcomer David Russell ’12 also made several outstanding catches during the game. “Even though we did lose a good [number] of Seniors from last year’s team, we are returning many of our core players. We definitely have a lot potential this year with our experience and our talented newcomers, and I think we could do big things this season. We were a bit shaky at times, but that is expected in first games,” said Feng. Initially, the team used man-to-man defense to shut down Newton’s offense, but as the game progressed Andover shifted into a zone defense. At the start of the game, Andover struggled to adjust to the cold, windy weather and the wet field, but the team managed to hold onto the disc and prevent turnovers. Andover allowed Newton to score only three points throughout the entire game. Robert Kingery ’04, a new assistant coach this year, was key in providing advice and suggestions to the players. “This team has a great deal of potential. Today’s game was very revealing…it is clear that there are vast improvements to be made and I look forward to seeing the squad cohere and develop over the course of the spring,” he said. This week Andover will work on improving its defensive skills and the overall flow of its game. The Ultimate team will also use this week to prepare for its game against The Cambridge School of Weston on April 15.
