With newcomer Brooks Dyroff ’09 opening up his point total in an explosive one-goal-and-two-assist performance, Andover blew Tilton out of the water with a breakout offensive performance in a stunning 15-3 victory. Andover absolutely dominated Tilton last Saturday, thanks to goals from many members of the offensive unit. Tilton mustered only one goal in the first half, thanks to the incredible defensive play of Theo Lederfine Paskal ’09, Andrew Pohly ’09 and Forrest Cox ’09, a trio that has stopped opposing offenses all season. Paskal made several devastating and key strips, while Pohly continued to show how his gap year from lacrosse has not slowed him in the slightest. Both players have been forces in their positions. The great defensive play was not limited to the starting trio, though. Trevor Braun ’10, Brian Safstrom ’10, Joey Atiba ’09, Eddie Houghton ’09 and Luke Duprey ’09 all played important roles in keeping Tilton at bay. Eric Kanter ’09 saw time on both sides of the field, and had a few solid scoring opportunities. In addition to great defense, Atiba shined on offense, scoring his first goal of the season. Also adding to the point total was the team’s youngest member, Joe Kruy ’12. In net, Co-Captain Spencer Rice ’09, and backup goalie Jay Dolan ’11 both had great games. Rice played the first half and allowed just one goal, while Dolan closed the game out in the second half, allowing two goals. Both goalies had outstanding and near perfect performances. On Wednesday, while facing off against Brewster, Andover lacked some of the scoring power they had against Tilton. Andover came out strong in the first quarter, with Cam Boll ’09 tucking a goal two minutes in. As the game unfolded, it turned out to be a battle between Andover’s offense and Brewster’s defense in the first quarter, as Andover kept possession for most of the quarter. “In the first quarter we did a great job of keeping possession and playing our game. Over time, our team lost composure on offense as Brewster began to make their run,” said Spencer Macquarrie ’10. Things went downhill for Andover in the last three quarters. In the second, Brewster was able to level the score at 1-1 with a cut down the back pipe and a feed to the crease. Will Walker ’11 scored for Andover shortly after to regain the lead for Andover. From here on out, the team’s offensive rhythm and clearing game began to struggle. Along with these breakdowns in Andover’s game came long possessions from Brewster’s offense, which eventually tired out the defensive unit. The combination of strong stick skills and a good knowledge of the game gave Brewster an edge and a level of play that Andover’s defense had never seen before this season. “On defense we didn’t really do a good job of talking to each other and commnicating,” said Safstrom. Chris Kreider ’10 and John McKenna ’10 both added goals. When the final whistle blew, Andover came out with their first loss of the season against Brewster with a score of 9-4. Overall, it was a very tough loss that Andover hopes to rebound from by winning against the Hyde School on Saturday.
