Off of an assist from Charlotte Welch ’18 and Lilly Feeney ’20, Elizabeth Welch ’18 launched a shot past Williston Northampton’s goalie, scoring the first goal of the game. Ultimately, Andover Girls Hockey fell to Williston on Saturday 4-2 and lost to Nobles and Greenough 5-1 on Wednesday, dropping its record to 10-8.
Against Williston, Andover created several scoring opportunities throughout the first period by utilizing communication and quick puck movement. Elizabeth Welch scored the first and only goal of the first period.
Sarah Rigazio ’18 said, “Against Williston on Saturday we came out really strong. We were connecting on passes, getting hard shots off, and really clicking as a team.”
Entering the second half, Williston scored an early goal to tie up the game at one a piece. Andover quickly responded to Williston’s goal, as Brooke Keough ’19 placed a shot into the back of the net with 4:08 minutes left in the second period, regaining a one-goal lead.
Williston came out strong in the third, adding two goals to the scoreboard to secure a 3-2 lead. Nearing the end of the third period, Andover pulled its goalie facing a one-goal deficit. However, Williston managed to score again on an open net, sealing off the game 4-2 in Williston’s favor.
Rigazio said, “Unfortunately, we blew a 2-1 lead going into the third and were not able to recover. We hung with them for the majority of the game, which was a big accomplishment for us as they were ranked second in the league.”
Captain Kaitlin Hoang ’17 said, “The team played really great against Williston. Everything about the game was pretty spot on during the first period. At the beginning of the third, the team lost the mojo we had coming in, which allowed for opportunities for Williston to score, and they took them. After they scored, we failed to keep up and unfortunately lost.”
On Wednesday, Andover squared off against Nobles, one of the top teams in the league. Early in the game, Nobles took control of the puck and scored multiple times off of rebounds and screened shots. Andover faced a 4-0 deficit at the end of the first period.
Despite Nobles’s lead, Andover tried to regain control of the game and began placing multiple shots on net. Assisted by Charlotte Welch and Feeney, Elizabeth Welch scored in the second period to put Andover on the scoreboard. In the final minutes of the period, however, Nobles scored again and the period ended in a 5-1 lead for Nobles.
Andover gave its best effort to cut the lead in the third period, but a scoreless period left the game in a 5-1 loss for the team.
Erin Kelley ’19 said, “This game showed that we really need to improve on communication on the ice. Our energy tends to come and go, and the team needs to work on consistently keeping it up. This includes those playing on the ice and those on the bench — every player’s energy is important.”
Liv Keefe ’17 said, “We need to work on our scoring, we outshot them but only got one goal. Our main problem is successfully getting more puck in the net. However, I think we really held our own during the second and third periods. Nobles is one of the best teams in the league, and we only let in one goal during the last two periods.”
Andover will look to rebound from its losses and bring home a win against Milton on Friday.
Hoang said, “We need to be more efficient with our shots and we need to play with a higher sense of urgency. We’ve had some tough losses recently but were planning on picking it up and turning it around in the next couple of games.”
