After completely dominating Lawrence Academy in the offensive zone during the first five minutes of Friday night’s game, Emily Little ’09 sniped a free possession shot for Andover in the first goal of the game. Andover went on to dominate the rest of the game and won by a final score of 15-4. Just a minute after her first goal, Little caught the ball in the midfield and showed her blazing speed as she carried the ball into the offensive zone and scored her second goal of the day. Little and Brooke Van Valkenburg ’12 both scored again to increase Andover’s lead. At the end of the first half, Andover was clearly in control of the game, as it held a commanding lead of 8-2. The second half provided a chance for Andover to work on some difficult plays and experiment with some new combinations on the field. After winning the first draw of the half, Emily Kowal ’09 scored off of a perfect feed from Morgan Healey ’09. This was followed by another free position goal from Maggie Law ’10. Kowal, who has suffered from an injury-plagued season, netted two goals in her first game of the year with the most notable performance of the game. Little also had a highlight performance with five goals. On Wednesday the girls faced off against cross-town rival Brooks, who had beaten Andover five years in a row coming into the game, but Andover came back to steal a 10-9 victory. After a bit of a sluggish warm-up, Andover started the game slowly and allowed Brooks to score the first goal. Co-Captain Alissa Fromkin ‘09 responded only a minute later, however, as she ripped a shot past Brooks goalie from outside the eight meter arc. After a back and fourth first half, Andover trailed by a score of 6-4. As the second half started, Brooks scored two goals in the first two minutes. But the team did not let this discourage them, and Van Valkenburg scored two well-placed goals to respond to Brooks’ lead. These goals were followed by another one from Little to cut down Brooks’ lead to 9-8. With only four minutes left, Emily Rademacher ’11 scooped up a ball in front of the net and fired off a shot to tie the game at nine. Summer Washburn ’11 scored the final goal of the game, securing the Andover victory. In the second half, Andover dominated in the defensive zone allowing Brooks little opportunity to score. In the last four minutes of the game Andover showed off its possessing skills in the offensive end, as the team held on to the ball under strong Brooks’ pressure. Katherine Sherrill ’10 said, “This game was amazing, and we showed a ton of perseverance and a desire to win. I can’t think of a better way to head into our final game of the season.” On Friday Andover will end its season with a final game against rival Exeter.
