Andover continued its winning ways this week with a win and a draw, both on the road. This week the team also began its first stretch of away games this season. Saturday, the Andover Boy’s Soccer team weathered a tough Choate team in a strong 3-1 win. Andover came into Choate rolling in all facets of its game. Coming into the game with a three game winning streak powered by all parts of the team’s game, Andover beat Choate on both sides of the field. The Andover offense overwhelmed the Choate defense in the three goal effort, and the Andover defense, led by Spencer Macquarrie ’10, continued its strong play in conceding just one goal. Macquarrie has allowed more than one goal in just one of the team’s eight games on the season. Wednesday, Adam Skaggs ’09 scored the lone Andover goal in a 1-1 draw against a very talented Winchendon soccer team. The game started off very physical, and the rough play continued throughout the game. Winchendon attacked very hard early in the game. Said Macquarrie, “We were giving them too much respect in the midfield.” With good strikers up front, the Winchendon offense put a lot of pressure on the Andover defense. Andover opened the game slowly and played conservatively. The defense was beginning to bend with all the pressure from the Winchendon offense. However, Andover was still able to strike first. In the first half, Skaggs received a pass and made a run down the side of the field. Skaggs found room to shoot and fired a shot on net. The shot found the opposite side netting first the first goal of the game. However, Winchendon was able to score the equalizer. Winchendon fired a cross into the 18-yard box. Macquarrie punched the ball away from the net, but the ball deflected off of a Winchendon player and slipped into the net to tie the game at 1-1. In the second half, both teams battled hard, but neither was able to find the go-ahead goal. There were a lot of good chances for both sides, but neither was able to capitalize. The game ended in a 1-1 draw. At the halfway point in the season, Andover has looked very strong. With a record of 6-1-2, Andover is a contender for a spot in the New England tournament. Andover has looked strong all year on both sides of the ball. The Andover defense has been consistent all year with three clean sheets and five games with only one goal allowed. The Andover offense has also looked very strong. Since Andover’s lone loss this season, the Andover offense has scored twenty goals in just six games. With all parts of the team gelling so far this year, Andover looks to be a team that could be very strong in the second half of the season. On Saturday, Andover will once again be on the road at Tilton. Tilton is undefeated this season with an overall record of 7-0-2. Based upon the two team’s results against common opponents, next week’s game should be a tight match-up. Both Andover and Tilton tied Winchendon and recorded easy wins against Holderness. Saturday’s showdown will be a very tough test for Andover to kick off the second half of the season.
