The Andover Girls Waterpolo team split its wins last weekend, capturing a game against Deerfield and losing the other game to powerhouse Loomis Chaffee. In the win against Deerfield, only starters played, with the exception of one novice player. Andover girls lost twice to Deerfield last season: 8-5 during the regular season and then 9-7 in the championship tournament. Andover was able to avenge its losses by overpowering the Big Green 8-4 this past weekend. The win could be greatly attributed to the strong defense. Of particular note, Amy Fenstermacher ’07 was a wall when balls went her way, saving six spectacular shots. On the offensive side, Co-captains Emily Brenner ’06 and Parla Alpan ’06 led the scoring by netting three goals each for the Big Blue. Co-captain Alpan commented, “Deerfield is one of the stronger teams in our league, so I was very impressed with the level of play we showed in the pool.” In addition, she attributes much of the team’s success to the cheering bench: “The girls on our beach were a crucial part in our win; without their energy and support, the attitude in the pool would have gone significantly down.” All in all, Andover communicated together very well in the water, and the game went smoothly, with the cheering bench keeping up the momentum on the sidelines. In the second game, the team ended up losing to Loomis Chaffee 6-12. Loomis had some very aggressive players who did not shy away from physical contact with the Andover players. However, after scoring only one goal in the first three quarters to Loomis’ twelve goals, the Andover girls were able to pick up the intensity and score five consecutive goals in a fourth quarter rally. Co-captain Alpan led the scoring against Loomis with four goals, while Co-captain Brenner and Kelly Chang ’07 each netted one. Despite the adrenaline rush in the last quarter, though, the game timed out and Loomis was declared the winner. However, Loomis beat Andover mercilessly last season in a devastating 21-1 game, so the final score of 12-6 was an improvement—in fact, the six-goal deficit was the closest that the Big Blue has come to Loomis in a number of years. Team manager Ryan Ferguson ’07 notes that, “Loomis is one of the strongest teams in the league and a major contender for the finals, but Andover put up a great showing.” In addition, the team is hungry for more after its first loss of the season (the record now stands at 2-1). Co-captain Alpan proclaims assertively, “I have confidence that we can beat [Loomis] the next time we face them.” The Andover Girls Water polo Team is fired up from last weekend’s loss to Loomis and look forward to when they play Williston Northampton, usually league powerhouse, this Saturday 4/15 at home.
