Sports

Boys Lacrosse Loses to Nationally Ranked Deerfield Academy; Curtin, Griff and Bukawyn Lead Offense With Stellar Goals

Despite a stellar two-goal performance from Patrick Curtin ’07, Andover Boys Lacrosse lost a heartbreaker to Deerfield by a final of 8-7, but later rebounded strongly to hold off Tabor 7-4. Deerfield is always considered one of the top teams in not only New England, but in the nation. In fact, according to laxpower.com, Deerfield is ranked #14 in the country and number one in New England. However, Andover did not listen to the numbers and was certainly not intimidated. After Deerfield scored its first goal, Morgan Griff ’07 scored as he beat several defenders before blasting it past the goalie. After one quarter of play, Andover had struck a bit of fear into Deerfield, as the game was tied 2-2 after Tyler McDonald’s goal. However, the confident Deerfield squad came out hungry in the second quarter, flying to halftime with a 5-3 lead. The second half proved that Andover is one of the most resilient squads in New England. After Deerfield scored to put themselves up 6-3, Andover stormed back with goals from Griff, Curtin and another from Walker. Heading into the final quarter, Andover was deadlocked 6-6 with one of the nation’s top lacrosse programs. Andover carried its momentum into the second half, when Curtin was given an isolation play against Deerfield’s top defender. Curtin did not hesitate with the opportunity, as he dodged his defender before cranking a shot into the back of the net. However, Deerfield responded soon after to tie the game at 7-7 with very little time left. Unfortunately, Andover’s valiant effort was not rewarded as Deerfield built up a steady attack before firing one past Captain Sean Aaron ’07 to win the game 8-7. John Bukawyn ’08 was stellar throughout the contest, sprinting fearlessly for every ground ball, bouncing between bigger defenders, while maintaining consistent stick protection. Although Andover regrouped on Wednesday with a win, it took the players a while to get their legs moving. The first half was dominated by Tabor, who went up 3-1. The second half was a completely different story. Andover netted six straight goals to make it a 7-3 game, before Tabor added a fourth. Nick Anschuetz ’08 described the wake-up call by saying, “At halftime we all started to drill into our heads that there are no excuses for how we were playing. We knew we could be dominating the game, and we came out with a lot more flare in the second half.” The scoring in the second half was rounded up by Griff adding two more goals, while Curtin added two of his own and Bukawyn and McDonald added one apiece. Bukawyn’s goal was a highlight reel-type play, as he made a great cut to the crease, while Curtin effortlessly threaded a pass in between several players to hit the streaking midfielder. Captain Aaron was solid again this week, playing huge in both contests and making very timely saves.