Andover Field Hockey scored goals in every quarter except the first in Friday’s game against Thayer.
Peyton Kennedy ’25 goes for the ball.
Andover Field Hockey opened its official season with a 3-0 win against Thayer on Friday and 7-0 shutout against Lawrence Academy on Wednesday.
Against Thayer under the lights, corners were vital scoring opportunities for the team, according to Autumn Christian ’27. Taking advantage of them aided in the overall success of the game.
“[Corners] are free positions where after a foul happens we get a big opportunity to score, and I think every single one of those that we have are crucial moments that really make the game,” said Christian.
Despite having to adjust to the new turf on home field and dealing with practice cancellations due to inclement weather, the team was still able to get in a few good practices, according to Christian. The team also took their practices into the classroom.
“We practiced hitting a lot and also shifting as the game moved and keeping our formation… We also went over visuals where [our] coach had a whiteboard and mapped out certain plays,” said Christian.
Although Andover won 3-0 against Thayer, the team still faced challenges with communicating. Quiana Bell ’26 explained how the team is going to combat adversities and its plans to improve this season.
“We were working a lot on spacing and communication with each other. We got really crowded in our first game and weren’t using the whole field or communicating to each about passing. We worked a lot just like working together as a team,” said Bell.
The team worked on its defense and moving the ball smoothly against Lawrence on Wednesday. Meg Stineman ’25 highlighted that a focal point of the game was getting past Lawrence’s goalie, who was dominant in the box in past matchups against Lawrence.
“[The game] went really well, especially in the first half. We [created] a lot of opportunities in front of the net. [Lawrence has] a really strong goalie. We were really focusing on being deceptive around the goalie and using angles around the goal and we definitely did that. The score definitely reflected that we were able to [create] a lot of opportunities,” said Stineman.
The team brought a lot of energy against Lawrence, according to Stineman. The team’s excitement was a big factor in carrying out its offensive plays and keeping the game fun.
“Going into it, Wednesday games are challenging after school. We were all tired from a full day of classes but the second we were on the field it was like a flipped switch. We were able to put in a lot of effort and connect the ball really well and that was very exciting in the first half,” said Stineman.
Andover Field Hockey will play Loomis Chaffee at home on Saturday.
