Led by two goals from Co-Captain Garnet Hathaway ’10 and the strong goal keeping of Spencer Macquarrie ’10, Andover shut out Taft on Wednesday, 3-0. Hathaway netted his first goal sixteen minutes in and gave Andover an early advantage. Andover controlled the majority of the first half and came out with lots of energy, but after Hathaway’s goal, Andover remained quiet for the rest of the half. “Taft was a good team and they put lots of pressure on us in the last 20 minutes of the first half,” Coach Stephen Carr said about the short lapse in play. Goalkeeper Macquarrie saved several great shots by Taft. Thanks to Macquarrie’s fantastic goalkeeping, the first half ended with Andover hanging on to its 1-0 lead. “Spence had some brilliant saves out there. Probably played the best out of anyone on the field,” Carr said. In the second half, Andover forwards got a lot of opportunities on net. With about 25 minutes left in the game, Jake Rohwer ’11 scored an unbelievable goal off of a free kick from about 25 yards out. Less than 10 minutes after Rohwer’s goal, Hathaway netted his second goal of the game. The goal came after a diagnoal ball was put through by Kyle Leahy ’10. Due to a miscommunication by the Taft defense, the ball was able to squeak through and provide Hathaway the opportunity to run on to the ball. With the finesse that he has so often used to slot the ball past opposing goalies the past four years, Hathaway calmly put the ball past the Taft goalkeeper. The two goals on Wednesday boosted Hathaway’s goal total up to five in just as many games this season, already on pace to break his season total from last year, which was a personal best for Hathaway. Great finishes by the strikers and spectacular keeping by Macquarrie on the other side propelled Andover to a 3-0 win. “The boys played a really great game out there, they played tough,” said Carr of the win. Carr added that, despite the shutout, the defense could be improved upon and had to be bailed out on several occasions by Macquarrie. “We were beat in the air a little bit, we just need to tighten it up a bit on the defensive end. Our tackling can always be improved as well,” Carr commented. In each half, the intensity that Andover showed in the first 30 minutes seemed to drop off during the last 15, causing the Andover defense to get complacent amd give Taft many opportunities to put shots on net. Andover had a little trouble winning the 50/50 balls. While the team got to a lot of the head balls, but just could not keep control of it off the header. The Andover back line also had some trouble controlling clearances. Regardless, Andover was able to decisively beat Taft, improving the team’s record to 3-1-1 Andover looks to add another victory against Choate on Saturday.
