With a left to right split dodge past his defender, John McKenna ’10 had a clear look to the goal. With no slide coming and only the NMH goalie left to beat, McKenna ripped a shot into the low corner of the net to score the first goal in the 9-7 victory over NMH this past Wednesday. Fresh off a 12-4 romping of Belmont Hill last week, Andover looked to continue its good start at NMH. Andover strated out slow, and trailed after the first quarter 0-2. The team had issues keeping possession and keeping up a smooth offensive flow. On the defensive end, the trio of Andrew Pohly ’09, Forrest Cox ’09 and Theo Lederfine-Pascal ’09, along with goalie Co-Captain Spencer Rice ’09, kept a trio of flight-footed NMH attackmen at bay. “We didn’t do a good job clearing the ball and getting the offense started. We had a tough time getting off the bus, and it really showed in our play, especially in the first quarter,” said attackman Spencer Macquarrie ’10. In the second quarter, Andover made a comeback and added two goals of its own. Unfortunately, thanks to another goal by NMH, Andover still trailed 2-3. The third quarter seemed to preview Andover’s downfall. NMH added two more goals, leaving Andover trailing by three. The tide changed in the middle of the third, when Andover scored five goals. NMH had no response, and they entered the fourth in uncertain territory, down by a score of 7-5. Andover sealed the deal in the fourth by generating two goals and completing a 7-0 scoring run. Despite a last sign of life by NMH with a sequence of two more goals, they could not overcome the deficit. In the end, Andover prevailed 9-7, thanks to its late surge. Although they took a while to find their stride, the Andover offense scored when it counted. The entire offensive starting lineup of Co-Captain Jack Walker ’09, McKenna, Will Walker ’11, Macquarrie, Chris Brown ’09 and Chris Kreider ’10 all scored goals. Kreider lead the way for Andover, scoring only one goal but contributing to the offense with four assists. Even more impressive than the distribution of scoring was the fact that Andover did it against a hard-nosed defense and a strong goalie. Despite the seven goals that they allowed, which is actually a relatively low number in the game of lacrosse, the defense played incredibly. The defensive midfield of Joey Atiba ’09, Eddie Houghton ’09, and Brian Safstrom ’10, along with the whole defensive lineup, did a fantastic job of shutting down the potent NMH offense. Behind the beefy defensive unit, goalie Spencer Rice ’09 played one of his best games ever in goal. “He made some of the best saves I have ever seen,” said Pohly. “Rice continues to prove why he such an invaluable member of this team, and how important he is to Andover’s success.” Rice’s self-sacrificing style of play is unmatchable and is one of his intangible qualities that is hard to find in a goalie. Macquarrie added, “His ability to come up big in the clutch is extremely impressive and something that, as a team, we are very grateful to have.” The team was uncertain about its defense coming into the season after losing Reid Mosquera ’09 to injury. But after today’s performance, most of those concerns have been put to rest. If the defense can continue the physical and smothering play they have showed so far, attackmen across New England will quiver at the sight of Andover on their schedule. Andover will take on a very tough Tilton team on Saturday at home in Phelps Stadium.
