Anna Hurley ’20 plays on a team of 18-21 year old college and New England Revolution Academy players during the off-season.
Against Loomis, the team was consistent throughout the field and calculated with its next plays, according to Emily Kelly ’22.
“I thought we kept possession well and we were extremely strong in the midfield. The defense was very strong and Emily Hardy [’20] was solid in net. We’ve been working on our first touch lately and making sure that we know where we’re going with our next pass and everything.” Kelly said.
In preparation for its game against Loomis, the team practiced switching fields to maintain offensive pressure, according to Emma Fogg ’21.
Fogg said, “We worked on switching the point of attack which can be really helpful for keeping the pressure on them…In practice leading up to that, we did a lot of points of attack and switching that which I think helped contribute to that.”
Against an aggressive Worcester team, Andover maintained its stamina and style of play, according to Myra Bhathena ’22 and Liberty Stam ’22.
“We played a really physically tough team but we held our ground and we played our game, we played Andover’s game which [Head Coach Lisa Joel] likes to say,” said Bhathena.
Stam added, “Worcester was an aggressive and chippy team. The ref let it get out of hand but through discipline and hard work we pulled out a 2-0 win. We played as a team.”
Andover had a noticeably enthusiastic bench against Worcester due to several injuries and illnesses, according to Lily Haik ’22.
“We were teeming with excitement and support. Even though we weren’t playing because we were sick or injured, we still felt like we were playing because of the strong camaraderie and the excitement and entertainment we got from the riveting match,” said Haik.
During the first half of the game, Kelly embraced the challenge of switching positions in order to fill in for an injured player, according to Bhathena and Athalia Esty ’22.
Bhathena said, “Emily Kelly had to step in at center back for the entire second half and a lot of the first. She played super well, super composed and organized the [defense].”
In preparation for Tabor Academy, Andover looks to work on its goal scoring opportunities, according to Kelly.
Kelly said, “We’ll be working on corner kicks and free kicks more since we had them frequently and we haven’t seemed to get a head on it or a body on it so we’re going to work more on that.”
Andover Girls Soccer will travel to Tabor this Saturday.
