Led by a spectacular seven-goal effort from Parker Washburn ’09, the Andover Boys Water Polo team split its Saturday doubleheader against Hopkins and Choate. Andover defeated Hopkins 11-4 and suffered a tough loss to a talented Choate team, 4-11. Thanks to strong defense and a fast start, the Water Polo team easily handled Hopkins in the first game of its doubleheader. Andrew Fraser ’10, who has emerged as a star and strong player for the team, scored the first two goals of the game for Andover. Andover’s defense set a strong tone for the second quarter, as Captain Goalkeeper William Faulkner ’09 blocked two shots. Matthew Mahoney ’11 and Asa Harrington ’09 both played stalwart defense and recorded steals in the quarter. Brendan Deveney ’09 scored a goal that brought Andover’s lead up to three goals. After two goals by Conor McAuliffe ’10 and a hat trick by Washburn, Andover jumped out to an 8-1 lead at the half. The comfortable first half lead allowed Coach David Fox to play his younger team members for long durations during the second half. Goalkeepers Dan Larson ’11 and Larry Zhou ’09 played very well in the second half and each put in a solid performance. Varsity rookies Conor Deveney ’11, Ben Morris ’11, Alex Smachlo ’11 and Austen Novis ’11 all saw some good minutes and received valuable experience for the future. Novis capitalized on his time in the pool, tallying a goal to increase Andover’s lead. Washburn carried his great first half performance over and dominated again, scoring two more goals in the second half, finishing with five goals for the game. Andover finished strong, winning handily over Hopkins, 11-4. After a confidence-building win over Hopkins, the Boys Varsity Water Polo team then faced Choate, a team with the second best record in the league. With an extremely talented starting lineup including an excellent goalkeeper, Choate took advantage of some early Andover mistakes. The normally sharp defense of Andover made some mistakes early on, leading to goals for the opponent. Choate quickly put four shots in the net, two coming on Andover errors. Andover bounced back for a little bit in the second quarter, scoring on goals from Washburn and Curtis Hon ’10. However, Choate rebounded and exposed the Andover defense yet again, racking up three more goals. At the half, the scoreboard read 7-2 in favor of Choate. During halftime, Andover made several key adjustments. Andover was only outscored 4-2 in the entire second half, thanks in part to Larson’s strong play. Larson blocked four shots and made a steal, leading to a goal from Harrington. Faulkner played inspired defense in goal during the final quarter, blocking four shots. Washburn scored his second goal of the game and seventh on the day. Coach Fox was pleased with his team’s strong efforts on Saturday, dominating Hopkins and playing competitively with a talented Choate team. Andover plays St. John’s Prep and Loomis this upcoming Saturday.
