Girls Varsity Hockey Coach Martha Fenton summed up Andover’s thrilling victory over rival Exeter in one word— “gutsy.” Katie Riley ’10 scored Andover’s second goal with just over three minutes remaining in the game to give Andover the 2-1 win. Avery Stone ’10 contributed Andover’s only other goal as the team improved to 9-2-1. Going into the Exeter game, Andover’s offense was depleted without forwards Mari Walsh ’11 and Lauren Glynn ’10, leaving the offense with only seven forwards. To offset the injuries, defensemen Katherine Sherrill ’10 returned to the lineup, allowing Avery Stone ’10 to jump back into the offensive rotation. Stone’s presence was immediately felt. In the first period, defensemen Ann Doherty ’11 swung a pass to Sherrill, who then threaded the puck to a waiting Stone. Stone buried the puck in the back of the net, giving Andover the 1-0 lead to end the first quarter. Andover out-shot Exeter 6-4 in the period. In the second period, both teams remained scoreless. The undermanned offensive unit kept their heads up and played hard despite the small number of forwards, shifting between only two lines. “That was one of the hardest periods of hockey I have ever played,” said forward Kellie Walsh ’11. Trouble struck for Andover in the third period when Exeter scored four minutes into the period. With overtime likely, Riley came to the rescue and buried the game-winning goal with three minutes and twelve seconds remaining. Games against Exeter always hold deeper meaning due to the nature of the rivalry, and this game was no exception. “It was a great effort by the team. They hustled from start to finish, which made up for only having seven forwards,” said Fenton. The win against Exeter comes three days after a very close game at Deerfield. After the long bus ride, Andover got off to a fairly slows start against Deerfield. With both offense and defense struggling to make plays, the pressure fell on goalie Alissa Fromkin ’09 to keep Andover in the game. Andover’s seemingly dead offense, which was out shot 31-10 over the first two periods, finally showed signs of life at the end of the second period. With three minutes left, defensemen Doherty netted her first goal of the year with a shot from the right circle on an assist from Riley. One of Andover’s three shots in the third period, by Riley, found the back of the net with the assist from Kaitlin McInnis ’09 and Stone. With an efficient offense and outstanding play in the net by Fromkin, Andover survived the Deerfield onslaught and secured the 2-1 victory on only 13 total shots to Deerfield’s 41.
