Sarah Powers ’26 looks for an open teammate.
1/6— Andover: 1, Choate: 2
1/8— Andover: 3, Brooks: 1
1/10— Andover: 2, Kimball Union Academy: 1
After losing a close match against Choate on Saturday, Andover Girls Hockey (6-2) rebounded with back-to-back wins against Brooks and Kimball Union Academy (KUA) on Monday and Wednesday. The enthusiasm of the team and the performances of individual players played a crucial role in its success following the loss.
According to Sarah Lackley ’26, an unlucky play in the final minutes of the game allowed Choate to score on a breakaway goal.
“It was 1-1 for most of the game and with around two minutes left, Choate got the puck and went down [the rink] and it was almost a two-on-one or three-on-one situation, like a rush, and they scored with a minute and a half left, so we lost 2-1.” Lackley continued, “[It was] unlucky and I feel like something we have been working on from that, like what we learned from that, was we need to keep scanning all around the ice and checking for players behind us.”
This week, the team lost three crucial players — Molly Boyle ’25, Caroline Averill ’26, and Maggie Averill ’27 — while they participate in the U18 Women’s World Championship in Switzerland. Although the team has had difficulty readjusting, Co-Captain Peyton Kennedy ’25 described the team’s enthusiasm and support for the three teammates playing for Team USA.
Kennedy said, “I definitely think we miss them. Just like as a team, their presence [is] a very big presence on the team on and off the ice. And since we are good friends, and we want them to do well, so we have been following along with their progress and watching all their games, and it’s fun to see them succeed in their tournament. But I definitely think our first game back was a little difficult.”
Monday’s game against Brooks proved to be another close matchup. Kennedy praised Sarah Powers ’26 for her game-sealing goal. This goal not only played a pivotal role in clinching the game but also in alleviating the pressure exerted by the opponents in the final period.
“We were winning 2-0 and towards the end we got a penalty and Brooks scored, so they had all the momentum, and it was a tight game… and at the end, I don’t remember how it happened, but Sarah Powers had a nice goal, which switched the momentum back to us and kept our lead in place,” said Kennedy.
Lackley highlighted the team’s improvement in its offensive strategy, defensive awareness, and team chemistry on Monday.
“We have been working on getting a lot of pucks to [the] net and we had a lot more shots. I think even in the first period we had more shots on net than we had the whole game on Saturday against Choate, so I think that was very important… I think every game we are getting better with moving the puck and reading each other on the ice. Also I think our defensive zone coverage was better and we were intercepting a lot of the other team’s passes.”
The team’s high spirits carried on to Wednesday. Inspired by the home crowd and Keira Bruen’s ’26 goal, the team maintained good energy throughout the game, according to Lackley.
Lackley said, “Keira Bruen had the first goal. It was a nice slap shot. So I think that got us going with some good energy… We have been trying to get our energy up in practices and in our games and especially on our bench and I think that it was a lot better today. And we had a lot of cheering on the bench and a lot of support from everyone… there was a good amount [of fans].”
With a difficult opponent on the horizon, the team will continue to work on their finishing and defensive strategy in their upcoming practices, according to Kennedy.
“We play St. Paul’s on Saturday which will be a really hard game, so we will probably work on our angling and our neutral zone play and shifting into different lanes so we aren’t doing the same job and mostly getting shots on net and crashing the net because we haven’t been scoring that much, so we will probably work on that,” said Kennedy.
Girls Hockey will face St. Paul’s at home on Saturday and Lawrence Academy away next Wednesday.
