After suffering a tragic loss on Saturday against Choate, 12-3, the Boys Varsity Water Polo team soundly defeated Worcester, 15-4. Against Choate, Andover started off quickly with Andover playing very aggressively and shooting often. Andrew Faulkner ’07 scored the first goal, which was answered by a Choate player who bombed a shot in from the perimeter. Captain Jamie Neuwirth ’06 got in front of his defender and snuck a shot in. Andover’s defense did particularly well, making a few sneaky steals. After another slew of blocked and missed shots, the game completely turned around and took the confident Andover players by surprise. Choate bombarded Andover with a quick succession of goals, taking advantage of man downs. Although Andover took more shots than Choate, Andover was not as successful because it did not vary its shot placement. Coach David Fox said, “Going into halftime with a six to one advantage in shots on goal yet slightly behind in the score, we, understandably, became increasingly frustrated while Choate became increasingly excited.” Although both goalies Billy Draper ’07 and Andrew Glasrud ’06 made many spectacular saves, they could not stop the Choate onslaught. After Choate scored seven unanswered goals to bring the score to 2-8, Andover lost focus and morale. “All we needed to do was tweak our shot placement; instead we became frantic and forgot just about everything we know,” Coach Fox commented afterwards on the 3-12 loss. The game against Worcester started hard and fast with Andover pounding down on Worcester’s defenses. In the first quarter, Andover quickly took advantage of the man down situation as Captain Neuwirth drew away the defender to give Scott McColl ’07 a wide-open shot. Soon afterwards, McColl broke away, scoring a quick goal with his defender trailing in his wake. Captain Neuwirth then stole the ball and sped down the pool to skip his shot in. Next, Ryan Ferguson ’07 hustled over, skipped the ball right pass the Worcester goalie. After Andover scored another goal, Worcester managed to score from the perimeter to make the score 5-1. Goalie William Faulkner ’09 made a few impressive saves and Worcester often lost the ball without being able to shoot within the shot clock. The second quarter started with Howie Kalter ’07 throwing a slow shot that drifted past the goalie and Captain Neuwirth backhanding another goal in. Jeff Cutts ’06 added one to the score after getting a shot in from the perimeter. On the third quarter, Andover lost focus and had a few defensive lapses. After Worcester scored three quick unanswered goals, Andover regained control. Andover scored seven unanswered goals to put Worcester away, 15-4.
