Sports

Boys Hockey Loses Two Consecutive Games

Captain Mike Gallagher ’20 plays defense for Andover.


Down 3-0 in the second period against Phillips Exeter Academy on Saturday, Will Hughes ’22 scored Andover’s first goal of the game, followed by Colin Marks PG’20 netting a goal less than two minutes later which brought the score to 3-2 by the end of the second period. Despite the team’s slight comeback, Andover Boys Hockey was not able to capitalize on offensive opportunities in the third period, falling to Exeter 6-3.

According to Sawyer Paul ’22, the team’s confidence wavered as it found itself down three goals to Exeter just after the first period.

“In between the first and second period, it was tough because we were down pretty quickly and that was difficult to come back from. But I think everyone knew we weren’t out of it, so we just kept fighting,” said Paul.

Numerous players helped the team maintain its morale during the game, according to Shane Shelest ’22 and Christian Ivancich ’22.

Shelest said, “There was one line, William Hughes, Colin Marks, and Dapa Conneely [PG’20]. I think they had a really good game. Their chemistry was great, they worked really well together. They were all responsible for all three of our goals. They were looking fast out there and moving the puck well.”

“There was a play late in the third period when it was still a one goal game, we just came off a penalty kill and [Assistant Captain Charlie Archer ’20] made an amazing sliding pad save… It definitely gave us some life. I thought that the puck went in at first even, it was an amazing save,” said Ivancich.

The team found that it also struggled mentally from playing in Exeter’s rink, according to Ivanchich.

“Before the game I thought we were super fired up and hyped up because Andover/Exeter is one of the longest and biggest rivalries. I thought that served as sort of a positive, but playing in their rink, you could tell there was a difference in the way the game was being officiated, and I think that served as a challenge to be playing an away game,” said Ivancich.

On Wednesday, Andover competed against St. Sebastian’s at home and lost 1-3, bringing its record to 6-9. The team attributes its loss to a combination of the early goals by St. Sebastian’s in the first period and the difficulty maintaining its morale.

Joey Zheng ’23 said, “I would definitely say in the first period we were on top of them. We had all the momentum and they got a lucky break and they capitalized. That was definitely a big killer within the game. We were just trying to dig ourselves out of the hole the rest of the game. That’s really what destroyed our morale.”

Zhang said, “As a team we did do the little things, the details we needed to do to get the game more or less balanced, like back-tracking all the way back to the net, keeping our feet moving and not coasting, lifting sticks, finishing checks. But we made a few mistakes and the other team capitalized on those, so that’s how they scored.”

Andover will compete against Noble and Greenough School at home on Saturday.