Football:
Battling to claim the NEPSAC Champion title and secure undefeated season, Andover Football had 89 yards to the end zone with nine minutes left in the game and trailing Exeter 12-7. Coach Leon Modeste reverted to a ground-and-pound style of play for the last drive, putting bruiser Michael Moore ’14 at fullback. Run plays up the middle and strong blocking from the offensive line helped Andover march down inside the Exeter 20-yard line. On a 4th-and-4 play with the game’s outcome at stake, Brandon Michel ’14 secured a short pass from Ian Maag ’14 for five yards. A few plays later, Ryder Stone ’14 busted into the end zone from the six-yard line with just seconds remaining on the clock. The victory ended Exeter’s five-year reign over Andover and locked up a playoff game next Saturday. Read more on Friday about Andover Football’s exciting win over Exeter!
Volleyball:
Andover lost a close match to Exeter 1-3 (25-27, 21-25, 25-14, 21-25) this past Saturday. Eight unanswered service points from Annette Bell ’16 helped Andover take the third set, yet the team could not channel the energy from its fans to pose another comeback in the fourth. This was the second time the teams have gone head to head this season, after Andover crushed Exeter 3-0. With a record of 8-6, Andover looks to avenge its loss in the New England Championships next weekend.
Boys Soccer:
Andover Boys Soccer solidified an undefeated season (12-0-5) with an aggressive 6-2 victory over Exeter on Saturday. Strikers Dylan Mott ’14 and Nick DiStefano ’14 dominated the offensive end, with DiStefano scoring two goals and Mott putting four in the back of the net. “The team was creating chances as we usually do but we were able to finish them against Exeter. It was a very important win, mainly for our seniors because it was their last Andover/Exeter game,” said Mott. Now in the third seed, the team is preparing for the playoffs and looks to continue its success against sixth seed Loomis on Wednesday.
Girls Soccer:
Andover Girl’s soccer tied archrival Exeter 1-1 in a nail-biting game on Saturday morning. Just 15 minutes in, Exeter scored from the 18-yard-line to take an early 1-0 lead. Exeter maintained control of the ball in the first half and created many dangerous scoring opportunities. Andover rallied back in the second half with aggressive play on offensive, led by Co-Captain Hannah Guzzi ’14. With eight minutes remaining in the game, Guzzi scored the equalizer off of a well-placed pass from Katie Kreider ’14. Andover fought until the buzzer, with multiple close shots on goal from Guzzi and Zoe Chazen ’14. The team will not qualify for the playoffs and has finished its season with a record of 7-8-3.
Waterpolo:
With 78 seconds left in the fourth quarter, Co-Captain Andrew Yang ’14 ripped a shot past the Exeter goalkeeper, propelling Andover to a 6-5 win in the finals of the New England Prep School League. Co-Captain Travis Bouscaren netted 13 total goals in Andover’s three wins over the weekend. Andover first beat Loomis with a score of 12-10 and then toppled Brunswick, in the number one seed, 10-8. Failing to qualify for the play-offs last year, Andover capped off its season with a high note in its final victory over Exeter, previous New England Champions, and earned its first ever NEPSAC title.
Boys Cross Country:
Boys Cross Country captured 2nd place in the NEPSTA Division I Interscholastic Championships at St. Paul’s with a total score of 112 points. A strong start propelled Andover to its success, according to the Andover Boys Cross Country Page. Ian Whittall ’14 blazed to a 2nd place finish, losing only to Mohamed Hussein ’14 in 16:12. Whittall’s time was within one second of the 16:11 course record held by Olympian Guor Majak. Ethan McIntosh ’15 closely followed Whittall in a time of 16:36, and Captain Scott Diekema ’14, Ralph Skinner ’16 and Paul McGovern ’15 came in with times of 17:19, 17:31, and 17:32, respectively. Kailash Sundaram ’15 and Tom Burnett ’15 rounded out Andover’s Top Seven in 17:50 and 17:53, respectively.
Girls Cross Country:
Girls Cross Country took home a plaque on Saturday, finishing 3rd in NEPSTA Division I Interscholastic Championships held at St. Paul’s School. Anoush Shehadeh ’15 broke her own course record by 36 seconds from 18:04 to 17:38 to come out as the race’s winner. In doing so, Shehadeh capped off her second straight undefeated season. Peyton McGovern ’16 finished in seventh place overall with a time of 19:45. The team ended the season with a 4-1 record.
