Co-Captain Nate Smith ’18 started playing as a Junior and specializes in the hole set position.
Goalie Thomas Glover ’18 blocked the ball and passed it directly to Eric Osband ’19, who completed the fast break with a goal. Andover Boys Water Polo went on to win 13-7 against Choate on Saturday. The team’s season record now stands at 7-1.
Going into the game, Andover was confident that it would be able to win against Choate, especially under the leadership of Head Coach Dan O’Shea, according to Neil Simpson ’19.
“We showed up knowing it was going to be a good day, so we basically focused in and just [worked hard]. We were a bit short on numbers this weekend, but Coach [O’ Shea] did a great job with substitutions to keep everyone fresh,” said Simpson.
The game started off intensely, and the teams were tied 3-3 after the first quarter. The team picked itself up, however, and accumulated a four-goal lead at halftime, with a score of 7-3. In both the second and fourth quarters, Andover shut Choate’s offense out, allowing no goals.
“Glover was extremely successful during this game. With a 13:20 block ratio, he was able to [dominate in] his new position as deep-end goalie because our [usual deep-end] goalie was not able to play this weekend [due to a concussion],” said Co-Captain Nate Smith ’18.
Due to the long weekend, as well as some injuries, Andover was missing some players and therefore brought up a JV player, Douglas Yang ’20.
“My first varsity game was amazing. On offense, we had incredible coordination in moving the ball down the pool and setting up in umbrella offense. We had excellent presses, crashes, and steals that helped us gain possession and ultimately win the game. Over the course of the game, I have learnt a lot of offensive and defensive strategies from my teammates,” said Yang.
Despite the team’s strong performance, it will continue to work hard in order to maintain its spot as the first seed in the playoffs, according to Sam Donchi ’20.
Donchi said, “Even though [Choate’s] team was not as strong as ours, which was reflected in the statistics, we were able to keep our composure and still play well. There are many things we should fix and work on, but I am still pretty happy with our performance on Saturday against Choate.”
Andover will play Loomis Chaffee away on Saturday.
