Andover Field Hockey squeaked out a 1-0 victory against Deerfield Saturday, fighting through horrendous weather and a soggy playing field to impress onlooking parents. Not able to continue the excitement brought on by Parent’s Weekend, Andover lost a heartbreaker to Middlesex 2-1. Andover took on a very spirited and evenly matched Deerfield crew. The teams had trouble keeping it either offensive zone for a prolonged period of time, and most of the game took place in the neutral zone. When Andover managed to advance the ball to the Deerfield’s defensive zone, they had several opportunities to score on with great shots from Megan Montecalvo ’06, Katherine Dix ’05, and Lindsay Moramarco ’06. Half way through the first half, the efforts of Arielle Filiberti ’07 and Erica Christensen ’05 finally put Andover on the board. Filiberti carried the ball down the sideline and took a solid shot which ricocheted off the Deerfield’s goaltender. With the goalie out of position, Christensen seized her chance and scored the only goal of the game. In the defensive end, Andover had showed tremendous discipline and resilience, but the play of goaltender Ale Moss ’07 was the key to keeping a tough Deerfield offense scoreless. Stopping every shot that came her way and constantly clearing the ball out of the zone, Moss kept Andover in the game and helped deliver them to victory. Moss also tallied her fourth shut out of the season. Throughout the season, Andover has gotten away with victories over easy teams without playing to their full potential. On Wednesday, this style of play finally caught up to them when a weak Middlesex team surprised Andover, 2-1. Though the first half was scoreless, Andover played sloppily. Andover was last to every loose ball, and it seemed they were just sitting back and watching the game. Andover was not able to cause any corners in its offensive zone, losing a key aspect of their offensive plan. Hoping to turn its play around, Andover was shocked after Middlesex scored after only four minutes of the second half. In a surprising turn of events, Andover was able to tie the score with only four minutes left in the game. Kat Dix ’05 was in great position when a rebound caromed her way, allowing her to tap it in the Middlesex goal. Andover appeared to be on its way to a comeback, only to have their hopes destroyed by a Middlesex goal with only two minutes left in the game. With Moss caught out of position after saving a shot, a Middlesex player easily put the ball into a wide open net. Andover was not only disappointed by the way this game ended, but also by its weak performance. After the game Ale Zindman ’07 commented, “They made better use of their scoring opportunities, which we were not able to do even though we had many more shots on net then them.”
