Meg Shea ’07 scored the only goal of the week for the Andover Girls Hockey team as the girls lost twice, 3-0 to Brewster Academy on Friday and 4-1 to the Nobles and Greenough School. The week was particularly disappointing because Andover should have beaten Brewster and certainly could have beaten Nobles. On Friday, the Big Blue lost 3-0 to Division II-leading Brewster Academy. Brewster’s short, crisp passes, speed, and forechecking were crucial in its win. Brewster scored twice in the first period, with one of the goals coming on a Brewster breakaway. In the second period, Brewster scored its third goal off a tip of a choppy shot on the ice that was redirected towards the goal. Goalie Alissa Fromkin ’09 played a respectable game, as the opponents crashed the net aggressively. With a little less than five minutes remaining in the game, the Big Blue called a timeout to strategize on how to salvage a win. The team remembered the two goals it scored within six seconds of each other at Tabor and to play as a unit. Unfortunately, Andover could not mount a comeback and lost 3-0. On Wednesday, Andover faced off against the Nobles and Greenough School, aiming to avenge last year’s 7-1 loss. Defensemen Stephanie Clegg ’08 commented, “We definitely thought we had a chance, I mean, we’re a really talented team this year.” Spirits were particularly high since Nobles star player, Sarah Parsons, graduated last year. Interestingly enough, she is now representing the United States in Torino as a member of the Women’s Hockey team. Even with the loss of Olympic caliber players such as Parsons, Nobles controlled the game from the start and went on to win 4-1. Shea scored in the third period, on a flawless deke on the goalie, slipping the puck into the right corner of the net. Nobles strength resided in its speed, stick control, and cycling of the puck in its offensive zone. In the first period, it scored two goals, none of them resulting from clean, sophisticated plays. The first goal came after Clegg poked the puck away from a Nobles girl, but she still managed a weak pass to a teammate positioned in front of the goal, who proceeded to find the back of the net. The second goal went in after the puck bounced off of Goalie Ansley Lahue’s ’06 stick and into the goal. Nobles’ third goal was scored in an embarrassing scenario for the Big Blue. Andover was on a powerplay and controlled the puck in its offensive zone, when the puck glided over the blue line and a Nobles player scooped it up and scored on a breakaway. It is possible that had Andover not committed so many careless errors, the game may have been salvaged. Twice, an Andover player passed the puck down the middle of the ice in the Big Blue defensive zone, leaving Nobles with a clear shot to the goal. Clegg was penalized for checking and Co-Captain Julie Wadland ’06 took a penalty for hooking. The team needs to rebound against Milton Academy on Friday in order to keep its playoff hopes alive.
