Andover’s offense has scored a total of 61 goals this season.
Anne Averill ’23 skated past two of her opponents and then sniped her shot into the top corner, scoring the first goal of the game against Worcester Academy. Andover Girls Hockey built on this momentum and defeated Worcester 4-0 on Saturday. This past Wednesday, the team defeated Loomis Chaffee 3-2 in overtime, despite losing to Loomis 2-0 earlier in the season. The team’s record now stands at 15-1-7.
The team used its performance against Noble and Greenough in its previous game as motivation to play at its best against Worcester, according to Co-Captain Sophia Merageas ’20.
Merageas said, “We wanted to work off of our performance the previous Wednesday against Nobles. We made really strong tape-to-tape passes, and we were able to break the puck out of our defensive zone pretty well considering their constant pressure. I think carrying that into the game against Worcester on Saturday was really pivotal. Also keeping the energy up even though Worcester is not as skilled [as] a team as Nobles was really important. We played our level of hockey and didn’t play down to them.”
According to Co-Captain Lilly Feeney ’20, the team’s decisive victory against Worcester proved to be an important moment for the team, as it displayed its ability to score and capitalize on offensive opportunities.
“I think [Saturday’s] game was a big turning point for us because we’ve had some trouble scoring, and yesterday we scored four goals on a pretty good goalie. So that was something big for us to get confidence going into the last few games of the season. Another thing was that the game got pretty heated, and there were a lot of penalties that were getting missed and the sportsmanship from the other team was not great, so I think us rising above that was something our coach was proud of,” said Feeney.
Against Loomis, Anna Bargman ’21 scored two of Andover’s three goals, one of which won the game in overtime. According to Oliva McManus ’23, as the energy on the ice increased, the team was able to score in the last minute of the third period to tie the score and push the game into overtime.
In an email to The Phillipian, McManus wrote, “The major takeaway from Loomis is to apply a consistent effort throughout the game and we will then be able to play as a team at our full potential. Nearing the end of the Loomis game we were down by one goal with one minute left in the game. We pulled our goalie for a greater offensive opportunity and Olivia O’Brien scored. From there the energy of the team increased even more, which pushed the team to victory.”
Although Andover is capable of producing impressive plays, the team must still improve on playing to its fullest potential each game, according to Feeney.
Feeney said, “I think there is definitely more to come, but I think in terms of our upcoming games, we definitely have more to give. Everyone played well, but in terms of winning the league, we have to play even better, but I definitely think it’s in our reach.”
Andover will host Phillips Exeter Academy this Saturday.
