Early in the third period of Andover Girls Hockey’s Wednesday matchup against Brooks, right winger Caroline Garrity ’15 caught a pass from Kaitlin Hoang ’17 on her backhand and flipped the puck towards the far side of the net without looking, breaking the scoreless tie. Three minutes later, off another Hoang rebound, Garrity netted her second goal of the day, putting Andover on top 2-0. Garrity’s two goals sparked a huge offensive outburst for Andover, as the team scored three more times to shut out Brooks 5-0.
Andover started out sluggish, failing to capitalize on offensive chances early on and turning the puck over frequently.
“We just needed to play better – it’s that simple,” said Captain Anna Fucillo ’15, who tallied an assist in the win. “We came out in the third period with a lot more energy, skated hard and refused to lose the 50-50 battles for the puck, and they couldn’t stop us.”
Elizabeth Holubiak ’18, Garrity and Hoang had multi-point games. In total, Andover tallied 19 shots in the third period alone, while Brooks had 16 all game. With her three points, Garrity now has 10 on the season in 11 games, while Hoang now has 12.
Alexa Matses ’18 picked up her second shutout of the season against Brooks, the first being against Northfield Mount Hermon (NMH). She leads Andover’s trio of young goalies with a .965 save percentage on the season.
On Saturday, the team travelled to Choate to play a 6:00 p.m. game. Despite a previous victory over Choate three weeks before in the Patsy K. Odden tournament at Taft, Andover fell 3-1.
The lone goal was scored by Hoang on a breakaway.
Ashley Tucker ’18 stopped 18 of the 21 shots sent her way, but her effort wasn’t enough.
“It was tough the first time we played them, too. It’s a close matchup that could go either way every game. Choate was definitely more physical this time, and it took us some time to adjust to that and match it,” said Tucker.
Andover’s 5-0 victory over Brooks keeps it well in playoff contention as it improves to 9-3 on the season.
With a rest on Wednesday, the team will resume a four-game home stretch this weekend with Friday night and Saturday afternoon contests against Brewster Academy and tough opponent St. Paul’s.
“It’s going to be a big weekend for us,” said Fucillo. “When you are competing for a playoff spot, every game feels like a must win, and against both these teams, we’re going to have to play hard for every minute of each game.”
