Co-Captain Charlie Ferguson ’23 scored the game-winning goal in overtime against Governor’s.
Parker Polgar ’23 looks for an open player.
Co-Captain Ben Garozzo ’23 saves a shot with Hank Ferguson ’25 covering the goal.
A shot from ten yards out by Co-Captain Charlie Ferguson ’23 bounced through the legs of the opposing goalie, serving as Andover Boys Lacrosse’s overtime game-winner against Governor’s on Saturday. The team ultimately won 10-9.
In preparation for its season opener, the team worked on ground balls, which had been a major issue in their scrimmage against St. John’s Prep the previous, according to Max Herbison ’25. Herbison noticed that the emphasis on ground balls paid off, as the team was able to maintain better control of the ball throughout the game.
“[We were] working on stick skills [and] it looked a lot better in the game compared to the scrimmage and we had less errors in that area. We also scouted the goalie before the game, so everybody knew to shoot low on the goalie which helped us,” said Herbison.
Leo Oguntoyinbo ’25 described other preparations the team made for Saturday’s game. Overall, the team worked on increasing speed of play.
“During practice, we practice a lot of clears and a lot of rides. We practice man-on-man defense, we practice a lot of sliding [and] our white defense. We also, we practice some team offense, moving our feet, moving our sticks,” said Oguntoyinbo.
According to Herbison, the teamwork on Saturday was evident, with teammates on both sides of the play making contributions.
“Strengths were ball movement. We played more as a team. We were moving the ball a lot more assisted goals than the scrimmage. One weakness we still have is clearing. We still struggled on the clearing in the beginning. Good thing Ben [Garazo ’23] came up big and made a lot of stops. And then another strength was face-offs. We went over 50 percent with Jack Perlson [’23], and that hasn’t happened in a lot of the past games, especially last year,” said Herbison.
On Wednesday, the team returned to defeat Brooks 14-5 in its second game of the season. Hank Ferguson ’25 commented on the full-team effort against Brooks.
“Some of the strengths today were defense. We were able to work together really well. We put in a bunch of goals. And we were able to rotate every player into the game and everyone got time which was great,” said Ferguson.
Tommy McCool ’25 noted that the team was still working on its offensive power on Wednesday, despite the major lead.
“A few of the things the team needed to work on were ground balls and because we lost a lot of those to the other team. I think finishing, too. They had a great goalie and we didn’t finish the ball in the first quarter but after that we had success after that,” McCool said.
Andover Boys Lacrosse will face Hotchkiss away this Saturday and Middlesex at home on Monday.
