After the dominant victory against Austin Prep, Andover Boys Soccer ends the week with a 3-1 record.
Sebastian Mejia-Rivera ’25 looks for an open player.
Co-Captain Zane Matraji ’24 leads the team for the second season.
Pictured left to right: Liam Rorke ’24, Spencer Madge ’25, Co-Captain Zane Matraji ’24
Andover Boys Soccer displayed offensive prowess this week, shutting out Loomis Chaffee (Loomis) 2-0 on September 22 and dominating Austin Preparatory School (Austin Prep) 9-2 on Wednesday. However, the team also fell 3-1 to Suffield Academy at the NXT LVL invitational on Sunday.
In its game against Loomis, Andover applied pressure and scored two early goals in the first half, taking a significant lead. Sebastian Mejia-Rivera ’25 spoke on Andover’s electric offense.
“Our strategy was to go out for the first 15 to 20 minutes and just basically press them heavily because we knew that they’re a very young team, so our best bet was going to be to beat them physically…[in the] first 25 to 30 minutes we score[d] two goals and our strategy was working, but then they kind of caught up to what we were doing,” said Mejia-Rivera.
Andover’s fast start against Loomis led both teams to a battle of fitness until the final whistle. According to Jack Alexander ’25, the team is currently undergoing various challenges, like injuries and weariness due to several games a week.
Alexander said, “Everyone’s a bit tired right now and exhausted. Four games last week was brutal. But I don’t think there’s any real weakness apart from just [that] we’ve had a lot of games and we’ve had a few injuries. Tristan [Marnoto ’24], our other goalie is out right now with a minor concussion. I’m the only goalie right now. So, theoretically if something [were to happen] to me, then we don’t have a goalie, which is a bit intimidating.”
Despite these various setbacks, Andover dominated in its matchup against Austin Prep. Coming out of the win, Co-Captain Garrett Holman ’24 spoke about the improvements and adjustments the team had made since Friday’s game against Loomis.
“There’s certain kinds of games that will have a very loud student section and we have a lot of young players that might not like that type of crowd. But that’s about it. We [also] need to improve on some finishing, I mean we did score nine goals today but that’s just [something we can always improve on],” said Holman.
According to Holman, the team has been preparing for its big upcoming game against Taft. While the team will be following its 9-2 victory, Holman notes that Andover must anticipate the strength of Taft’s team.
Holman said, “We play Taft on the road on Saturday, and obviously it’s going to be [a different game]. Taft is a lot better than Austin Prep and they have some talent.”
Andover Boys Soccer will travel to Taft on Saturday and host Bridgton Academy on Wednesday.
