Led by phenomenal defense from goalies Sarah Schuchardt ’11 and Mallory Tyler ’12 and goals from nine different players in the two games, Andover pulled out a 13-4 win at Lawrence on Friday and an 11-8 triumph over Brooks on Wednesday. These wins improved the team record to 11-2-1. On Wednesday, Andover dethroned previously undefeated Brooks 11-8. Brooks jumped out to an early 3-0 lead, knocking Andover on its heels and forced the team to play catch up the whole first half. With scrappy offensive play and tough defense, Andover brought the game back to 4-6 after the end of the first half. The momentum took a huge swing in Andover’s favor at the end of the half, as the girls netted a goal with 20 seconds left and another with 2.6 seconds left to tie the game at 6-6. Katie Hess ’11 said, “Our attack was able to take advantage of Brooks’ high pressure defense with quick stutter steps and we easily got around them at the top of the eight.” This momentum carried the team through the second half, as tenacious defense from Maggie Law ’10, Katherine Sherrill ’10, Julia Rafferty ’10, Hailey Novis ’13 and Haley Scott ’11 restricted the dangerous Brooks offense. Said Brooke Van Valkenburg ’12, “Our defense was unbelievable. They only allowed two goals the second half, and they just really stepped it up to help us win.” The defense also created turnovers, which the Andover offense capitalized on to score five goals in the second half. Van Valkenburg, Summer Washburn ’11 and Katie Riley ’10 scored four, two and one goals respectively. Brooks never came close to Andover’s lead in the second half, as Andover cruised to an 11-8 triumph. Sherrill said, “To come back after such a disappointing loss against Loomis and to beat two undefeated teams, Brooks and Thayer, is a testament to our will and heart.” On Friday, Andover came out firing in a matchup with Lawrence Academy to capture an early lead. Aggressive defense gave Lawrence few scoring opportunities in the first half, while most shots from Lawrence were saved by Tyler or Schuchardt who combined for nine saves in the game, limiting the Lawrence offense to one goal in the first half. Andover’s relentless defense also put the ball in the hands of the offense more, and efficient offensive execution led to goals from eight different players in the game, including Washburn, who netted three goals and had one assist in the game. Along with Washburn, Co-Captain Kyleigh Keating ’10 had two goals and three assists while Valkenburg ’12, scored twice. Andover led 6-1 at half. The second half continued in the same way, as selfless, agile offensive play generated many goals from a variety of players. Defensive players also added goals, as Law and Katie Hess ’11 both added one goal by running the entire length of the field. Emily Rademacher ’11 netted two goals, while Ashley Hess ’11 and Greer McBeth ’12 each added one to round out the scoring, ending the game in a 13-4 Andover win. The team looks forward to its final game of the year against Exeter on Friday.
