Field Hockey: Offense Stagnant In Winless Week

Bombarding the St. Paul’s net with shots, Andover Field Hockey launched a fierce offensive effort in overtime. Neither team scored in overtime, however, and the game ended in a 1-1 tie this past Saturday.

Although Andover only notched one goal against St. Paul’s, the scoreline wasn’t indicative of the team’s command of the game. The team peppered St. Paul’s net with 17 shots in the game, compared to the three shots that St. Paul’s took against Andover’s goalie Olivia Golini ’16.

Charlotte Welch ’18 said, “We dominated a lot of the game, and the overtime was good: – it was definitely in their half more than ours. [However], their goalie was very good.”

Meghan Ward ’19 added, “As a forward, I thought we did a good job getting corners, and the defense played well, keeping the score low.”

Andover was caught off guard and conceded its only goal when St. Paul’s roared off to a strong start and employed a bold offensive strategy that Andover struggled to adapt to. This tactic allowed St. Paul’s to take a 1-0 lead within the first two minutes of the opening whistle.

Charlotte Welch said, “St. Paul’s had a different strategy compared to most of the other teams we played, so they basically just hit the ball as far as they could and chased after it, which we were surprised by so we had to adapt. [This] made the first ten minutes pretty hard, which is when they scored.”
Ward said, “It was a hard way to start the game, but we came back strong and had a lot of shots on goal.”

Following the tie against St. Paul’s, Andover suffered a 1-0 loss to Middlesex on Wednesday. The team got off to a slow start, struggling to ramp up the intensity until the end of the game.

Emily Batchelor ’19 said, “Going into the game, we were focused and ready to play. But, when we left, most of us felt that we didn’t start playing our best until the final minutes. We needed to have the same intensity that we had in those final minutes throughout the whole game.”

Although Andover was not able to walk away with a win, the strength with which the team played with in the game’s dying moments was impressive
Captain Kelly McCarthy ’16 said, “Our strength was the tenacity with which we played the last seven minutes of the game. We played with such a sense of urgency.”

Looking ahead, Andover hopes to maintain that vigor throughout the rest of its matches.

“Going into Saturday, our goal is to work as hard as we can and practice and try to practice that sense of urgency so that we can translate it to the game on Saturday,” continued McCarthy.

Andover will take on Northfield Mount Hermon this Saturday at Phelps Stadium.