Isabela Miller ’21 drove through multiple defenders to nail a behind-the-back shot to score a point contributing to Andover Girls Lacrosse 15-0 win against Worcester Academy on Friday. The team continued its winning streak on Saturday with a 16-9 win against Governor’s, establishing the team’s record undefeated at 4-0.
According to Tory Rider ’22, Friday’s game against Worcester was a good opportunity for the team to run through new plays and get as many players on the field as possible. Rider also noted that playing a team not at Andover’s level was a great way for the team to build confidence.
“I think it was a good game to play because a lot of people got to go in, a lot of players got to go in and score, we got to run through plays, and try a new type of defense,” said Rider.
Friday was a unique opportunity for goalie and Co-Captain Kennedy Everson ’21 to watch the offense play. Everson was able to note areas of improvement for the offense and midfield due to the ball being in Andover’s offensive possession for the majority of the game.
Everson said, “Friday was a unique game because I don’t really get a chance to see the ball that often, but it was a great way for me to work on communicating with the defense, and to see how our whole team plays. I was able to watch the offense play a lot and notice some things that we have to work on there, and also what the midfield and offense need to work on.” During Saturday’s 16-9 win against Governor’s, a consistent one- to two-point margin was held throughout the game until the third quarter, when Andover began to score more consistently.
According to Abby Lamontagne ’21, Governor’s was a strong team that required Andover to play its best game.
“They were probably the best opponent we’ve had overall, they worked really hard, and they beat us on a lot of ground balls. They were very fast and aggressive, and challenged us and made us have to think fast,” said Lamontagne.
According to Everson, she attributes Saturday’s 16-9 win against Governor’s Academy to the team’s cohesiveness between the offense and defense.
“I think one thing that happened in particular was that we had a lot of caused turnovers on the defense, so we were able to get the ball back from the offense a lot… we were able to stop them more frequently than they were able to stop us, which is also accredited to the offense shooting the ball really well,” said Everson.
According to Head Coach Heidi Wall, the team will work on moving the ball and transitions during practice to prepare for this weekend’s games against Noble and Greenough and Pingree.
“We need to work on moving the ball more on attack, our off-ball movement, transitioning into the attacking zone; those are some of the key things that we’re gonna be working on,” said Wall. Andover will travel to Pingree this Friday and play Nobles at home on Saturday.
