Newcomer Andrew Yang ’14 scored six goals for Andover Water Polo in its first two games of the season on Saturday.
Yang’s performance helped Andover earn a 16-10 win over Hopkins School but was not enough to keep the team from falling to Loomis Chaffee 9-10 on the same day.
“By the [Loomis] game, we were all very tired and didn’t play as well as we could have. Fortunately for us, we get to play Loomis again, and we are all excited to demonstrate how good we actually are [when] rested,” said Co-Captain Travis Bouscaren ’14.
“The team clearly has a great deal of potential this season—we always improve remarkably over the fall, and I think we are all excited to see what happens,” said Head Coach David Fox.
The team suffered another heartbreaking 4-9 loss when it faced Exeter on Wednesday.
“Exeter has an all-deep pool, which is different for us since our pool is very shallow. Also, their pool is very wide so we need[ed] to spread out our offense and allow room for the two-meter man to set up,” said Bouscaren.
Andover’s losses reflect that it is still playing catch-up after graduating most of last year’s starting roster.
“We have very little overall experience on the team, which has accounted for a lot of little errors, but overall we’ve had a great attitude as a team, mixing confidence with energy and humility,” said Co-Captain Henry Kennelly ’13.
That energy is facilitating much improvement amongst the team’s newcomers, such as Scott Simpson ’14.
“Scott created numerous fast breaks by pressing his man and then stealing the ball,” said Bouscaren.
“In addition, since Alex Sweeting [’14] is injured, Rome Arnold [’14] started in goal in his first water polo game ever and was great. Initially, I was concerned that he wouldn’t know what to do in some situations since we had only had one real varsity practice, but after the first quarter, there was no need to worry. I trusted that every time someone shot the ball, I could immediately go for a fast break since I knew Rome would save it,” Bouscaren continued.
Andover will look to improve its record and continue garnering valuable playing experience against Deerfield Academy, Williston School and Brunswick School tomorrow at Williston.
