With 6.9 seconds left in the second period, Victor Malzahn ’21 scored against Choate at home on Saturday, getting the first goal of the game. Capitalizing on its offensive opportunities in the third period, Andover Boys Hockey secured a 4-1 victory over Choate.
The team attributes its success on Saturday to the hard work and fast pace it kept up all of the game.
“We played hard the entire game, so I feel like going forward, that’s something we should keep doing to get more wins,” said Shane Shelest ’22.
Despite its eventual victory, Andover was challenged the first period and the majority of the second period with finding offensive opportunities, according to Shelest and Christian Ivancich ’22.
Ivancich said, “The team was in a bit of an offensive funk during the 1st and 2nd period. We were getting a lot of good chances, we hit the post a few times, the goalie made some really good cross-crease saves. It was challenging to make any goals until Victor Malzahn scored one from the blue line.”
“During the game, we had a tough time scoring even though we had chances, and I guess it was hard staying positive and stay confident despite the challenges we had. There were some unlucky bounces, and we weren’t getting out shots off as strong as we would hope,” added Shelest.
Joey Zheng ’23 added on, “Since there weren’t any goals until the last 7 seconds of the second period, obviously we all wanted to score. We just couldn’t bury. So everyone in the locker room after the first period was in the mindset of “we need to score,” which could have affected how we made plays as a team. But when [Malzahn] scored, we felt more relaxed and started really playing.”
Andover went on to travel to Tilton on Wednesday and lost 1-4, bringing the team’s record to 6-7. The team attributes its loss to a combination of a slow start on the ice with Tilton’s aggression in its offensive plays, according to Ivancich.
“Tilton is a pretty strong competitor…we just didn’t move the puck as quick as we usually do. We were just not mentally prepared for [the] game, so we lost,” said Ivancich.
He continued, “We have a big game on Saturday against [our] rival [Phillips Exeter Academy], so I would definitely say we should work on just rebounding from this game and focusing on our defensive play which lacked this game.”
The team will travel to Exeter on Saturday.
