Andover Boys Water Polo’s defense shone in its win over Canterbury on Saturday. During the second half, the team’s defense stayed strong and only allowed one goal. The team beat Canterbury 21-6 following a 9-12 loss against Deerfield. On the previous Thursday, the team secured a 12-7 victory against Phillips Exeter Academy. The team’s record now stands at 3-2.
Against Exeter, defense was the team’s primary focus, according to Co-Captain Neil Simpson ’19.
Simpson wrote in an email to The Phillipian, “We did well [in limiting Exeter’s] number of scoring chances. We did our best to scramble their circuits and make plays on defense.”
Against Deerfield, the team’s level of play dropped in the second quarter of the game, according to Beckett McKee ’22.
In an email to The Phillipian, McKee wrote, “The Deerfield game was close at the beginning, as [we] had an electric start going up 3-0 in the first three minutes. However, [Deerfield] outscored us in the second quarter going up by three goals, a deficit we never came back from, [and we lost] 12-9.”
According to Arnold Su ’20, Deerfield had one talented player who posed a great challenge to the team and put Deerfield in the lead. Despite the challenge, the team rose to the occasion and worked to maintain a close score, according to McKee.
McKee said, “Our goalie [Theo Faugeres ’21] did an amazing job in the net, saving many of what seemed like unstoppable goals. One particular play that was amazing was [when] Deerfield’s star player had the ball and was [one-on-one] with the goalie, Theo, and he managed to save the ball and stop them from scoring.”
Despite its loss against Deerfield, the team only allowed Canterbury to score one goal in the second half of the team’s second game. After the first half, Andover led 7-5. The final score was 21-6.
While the team was fast and able to secure many shooting opportunities, it still looks to improve its shot placement. The team also looks to improve on its communication and maintaining momentum throughout the game, according to McKee and Su.
McKee said, “Again, as a team, we are still working on communicating with each other and shot selection. I think if we get those skills improved, we are looking at an electric season.”
Su said, “We can improve our electric potential. We need to keep up our… momentum all throughout the game and not let the other team get the… upper hand. Instead [we need to] have the [upper] hand which we will use to [dominate our opponent].”
According to Simpson, the team will continue to work on staying calm and focused throughout the game in order to avoid unexpected attacks.
Simpson said, “As [Head Coach David Fox] emphasized recently, we need to work on maintaining the status quo throughout the entirety of games to avoid unpleasant shocks. We can’t let the electricity of the game get to us and must strive to be level-headed.”
The team will face Williston Northampton, Hotchkiss, and Lawrenceville away in a triple header this Saturday.
Editor’s Note: This version of the article has been updated to correct a factual inaccuracy on September 28 at 2:48 p.m. The title of the article was originally “Boy’s Water Polo Breaks Exeter’s Seven-Year Winning Streak.”
