This week, the Andover Boys Hockey team defeated Choate 6-2 at home, and went on the road and tied the Tilton School 1-1. Joe Smith ’07 and Sean Wadland ’06 led the offensive attack against Choate with three points each, while Matt Ward ’06 stopped 43 of 45 shots for the win. Saturday’s game against Choate started with few individual scoring chances and the teams skated to a scoreless end of the first. After the intermission, Andover took the lead with a goal by Smith off a Wadland rebound less than five minutes into the period. Three minutes later, J.J. McGregor ’08 dangled past a Choate defender and wristed the puck in the net. The third period brought Choate plenty of opportunities to throw some shots at the net, and two minutes in Choate trimmed the lead to 2-1. Andover answered right back at the 6:50 mark of the third, when Tom Dignard ’06 put a hard shot on net that found the stick of Chris Cahill ’06 on its way to putting Andover back up by two goals. With the help of a 5-on-3 advantage, Choate tallied its second goal when a pass from behind the net found an open Choate player in front, who banged in the puck. Then Steve Bury ’08 fired in a feed from Brendan Cox ’06 and Paul Engelhardt ’06 to make it 4-2. Captain J.P. Martignetti ’06 knocked in a rebound off a Smith shot to gain a three-goal advantage. Ward finished the game with a spectacular 43 saves on 45 shots, raising his save percentage on the year to 93.4 percent as Andover added an empty net goal in the last 20 seconds. “I thought the team showed great character in hanging in the game and bouncing back after the lead was cut twice,” said Coach Boylan. However, he added, “Limiting penalties is something we need to work on.” On Wednesday versus Tilton, Andover was outplayed in the first two periods, and succumbed to an 0-1 deficit heading into the third period. The Blue came out aggressive and firing in the last frame. Andover’s efforts only produced a Cahill goal to even the score, and the game would end in a 1-1 tie to bring Andover’s record to 6-2-3.
