Four minutes into Saturday’s game against Choate, Lexi Davidson ’17 fired a shot on net and Katerina Toffoloni ’15 readily banged home the rebound, giving Andover Field Hockey a 1-0 lead.
This proved to be all the offense Andover needed, as it won the game 1-0.
Andover’s offense dominated, outshooting Choate 18-4 and achieving 12 offensive corners to Choate’s six.
“It was a really close game and my goal helped set the pace for the rest of the game and give us the lead. When I got the ball out front I saw the left side open so I faked right and drove the ball into the left corner,” said Katerina Toffoloni.
Ashlyn Aiello ’14 was a force in net. She has allowed only one goal in the past three games.
Andover’s 1-0 win was a great momentum builder going into Wednesday’s game against Milton Academy, a strong opponent that upset Andover last year.
Andover was down early after Milton converted on a breakaway less than five minutes into the game.
However, the team responded quickly, and ten minutes later, Nikoletta Toffoloni ’15 found a loose ball in a scrum outfront and hammered it into the goal to tie the game at 1-1.
“We knew that this was a big game going into it and that we had to win. When we were down a goal, we remembered how horrible the feeling was after our loss last year to Milton, so that was the motivation that kept us fighting” said Nikoletta Toffoloni.
After five more minutes of play, Andover took advantage of one of its 14 corners of the day when Davidson rifled home a shot from the top of the circle.
“Nikoletta passed the ball out to me and I knew we needed a goal to regain some momentum, so I put my head down and rifled one home,” said Davidson.
Andover entered the second half with a 2-1 lead and clinched its victory, allowing no other shots for the rest of the game.
Andover’s offense has been especially strong lately, outshooting its opponents in the last two games 21-13. The team looks to apply this pressure against St. Paul’s, which has a 2-5 record, this Saturday at 2:30 p.m. at Phelps Stadium.
