With 39 seconds to go in a tie game against Thayer, Co-Captain Kyleigh Keating ’10 sent a shot to the back of the net for the game winning goal. This win improved Andover’s stellar record to 9-2-1. Andover Girls Lacrosse lit the offensive fire early in the Thayer game, storming out to a 3-1 lead backed by strong defense from Mallory Tyler ’12, the goalie, and defenders Haley Scott ’11, Julia Rafferty ’10, Maggie Law ’10, Co-Captain Kitten Sherrill ’10 and Samantha Lawson ’10. Thayer responded immediately netting three consecutive goals and three more later to reach seven goals for the half. Andover rebounded to force turnovers, which created scoring opportunities for the offense. The team scored two more goals in the half, one with only 31 seconds left, which swung the momentum in Andover’s favor at half despite the 7-6 Thayer advantage. The second half continued to be a battle of high intensity lacrosse. After several minutes of play, the score was tied 9-9. After Thayer had a goal revoked due to an illegal stick, Andover stole the momentum and lit up offensively, while continuing its relentless defense. Persistence in shots from the Andover offense were continuously turned away until the Thayer goalie cracked with 39 seconds to go, as Keating netted her third goal of the game, the eventual game winner. Hannah Beinecke ’12 summed up the game, saying, “We played with heart and intensity, and it came down to that.” Earlier in the week, Andover took on Loomis, its toughest competition of the year. Despite the high energy Andover carried into the game, the Pelicans steamrolled Andover 13-4. Loomis never gave Andover a chance in the game, dominating from the opening draw of the game. Andover struggled to score against Loomis’s impenetrable, aggressive defense, and was shut out in the first half. Meanwhile, despite great defensive efforts from Law, Sherrill, Rafferty, and several great saves from goalie Tyler, the powerful Loomis offense still sniped nine goals in the first half, giving the team a 9-0 lead when the whistle blew at the end of the half. Although the girls never recovered from the large halftime deficit, they found their offensive stride, scoring four goals in the second half, two from Brooke Van Valkenburg ’12 and one each from Kyleigh Keating ’10 and Summer Washburn ’11. At the final buzzer, Andover came home with a 13-4 loss. “We went into the game knowing that they were good and I think that that psyched us out a little. They were a really good team and we did not play our best lacrosse,” said Keating. Andover will take on Lawrence Friday and Brooks Wednesday.
