Ten minutes before the final whistle, Ambika Krishnamachar ’11 made a beautiful shot to give Andover the lead against Choate. However, seconds before an anticipated victory, a corner kick gave Choate the opportunity to score and left Andover settling for a 1-1 tie. Despite a home field advantage, Andover struggled to capitalize on scoring opportunities. “Our game was shortened to sixty minutes after a delay, so we felt like we didn’t have as much time to generate good offense,” said Krishnamachar. Anna Fang ’10 was a strong force on the field that kept Andover in the game. Keeping the pressure on her Choate opponents, she worked the ball skillfully up the sidelines. Piper Curtis ’13 and Courtney Macdonald ’11 both played solid defense and succeeded at keeping Choate’s offense out of Andover territory. Jackie Wallace ’10, playing in her second game of the season after returning from injury, contributed to the offensive force by pressuring deep into Choate’s defensive end. After a disappointing result Andover made a quick turnaround to face Brooks. The cross-town rivals have always been a strong competitor for Andover, but heading into the game, the team was confident after last season’s victory. Brooks upset Andover with a goal right from the start, but Andover rebounded with intensity. Just before the end of the first half, Amanda Brisco ’10 headed a perfectly placed cross towards the net. Krishnamachar made a run, once again putting herself in position to finish off the pass and score, tying the score. Andover struggled to move the ball up the field, giving Brooks the majority of possession. Goalkeeper Alex Farrell ’10 was the key to preventing another Brooks goal and helped Andover hold on to the tie. Lack of defensive communication and an inability to finish offensive attacks plagued the team and prevented Andover from claiming the win. “Though it was disappointing, we felt that overall it was a good result against a consistently strong team,” said Krishnamachar. It was a good improvement from the previous game against Choate, and Andover only looks towards getting better by addressing its weaknesses with drills at practice. On Saturday, Andover will travel to St. Paul’s to play under the lights. With a record of victories against this team, Andover hopes to put an end to its tying streak with another win.
