Flying past two defenders, Olivia Keefe ’17 passed the puck to Meghan Ward ’19 who whipped a slap shot past the goalie to solidify Andover’s lead in its 6-2 win over Brewster on Friday. After only a day of rest, the team clinched another 5-3 win at St. Paul’s on Saturday. An intense mid-week game on Wednesday sealed Andover’s third consecutive victory by a margin of 5-4 against Lawrence Academy. This week’s triumphs advanced Andover’s undefeated record to 9-0-3.
On Friday, Andover played a strong and determined offensive game against Brewster, netting six goals, one each from Ward, Keefe, Charlotte Welch ’18, Jacqueline Diffley ’16 and two from Kaitlin Hoang ’17. Amid Andover’s offensive dominance and relentless shooting, the team struggled to stay defensively disciplined and allowed Brewster to score two easy goals.
Ward said, “From the drop of the puck, our team was much stronger than Brewster. Our weakness, however, was playing down to their level, and allowing them multiple two vs. one opportunities resulting in their two goals.”
Against St. Paul’s, Andover had another impressive offensive performance, driven by good communication and team chemistry. Elizabeth Welch ’18, Sarah Rigazio ’18 and Hoang scored a goal each, and Charlotte Welch scored two.
Hoang said, “We were able to score that many goals because the lines have been working really well together and we have really good chemistry. We have been focusing on offense, so to score five goals was really good.”
Against Lawrence, Andover played hard to secure a victory. At the end of the second period, the score was locked at 2-2, but Andover made a game-changing comeback in the third period, netting three goals from Ward, Keefe and Charlotte Welch.
Goalie Ashley Tucker ’18 kept Andover in the game with countless crucial saves.
Co-Captain Kasey Welch ’16 said, “We weren’t very focused going into the game which led to our worst period of the season so far, but we pulled ourselves together after the first and turned the game around.”
Andover will take on St. Mark’s at home on Saturday.
