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November 19, 2007
ANDOVER--With a 1–0 victory over three-time defending champion Loomis Chaffee, the Andover girls’ varsity soccer team captured the 2007 New England Prep School Class A Championship on Sunday in a game played at Governor’s Academy in Byfield, Mass. The Big Blue, seeded fifth in the tournament, parlayed an Emily Little ’09 goal in the 53rd minute together with a superb defensive effort to earn a final-round win over the powerful second-seeded Pelicans.
Little, who has been on fire lately for the Blue—scoring five goals in the last four games—took advantage of a perfectly played ball from the right flank by Katie Michaelson ’08 and was able to get off a quality shot to beat the strong Loomis keeper. Meanwhile, the Andover defense did an excellent job of holding off the potent Loomis attack.
Tri-captain Jenna Castellot ’08 was shifted during the post-season from her usual striker position to the midfield, where the Blue was short-handed due to injury. She played a very strong game, as did goalie Alex Farrell ’10, who recorded 23 saves in the championship game. The defensive foursome of Katherine Sherrill ’10, Catherine Coppinger ’09, Nicole Lee ’08, and Courtney Macdonald ’11, having played the full 100 minutes of Saturday’s overtime semi-final win over Westminster, played what Coach Lisa Joel termed “a flawless game” on Sunday. According to Joel, “It was a textbook exhibition of how to play the flat-back four defense.”
Andover denied Loomis their usual passing options and forced them to shoot from outside for most of the day. The Blue also put pressure on Loomis at the other end with Little and Amanda Brisco ’10, helping to create offensive opportunities and forcing the very talented defending champs out of their usual attacking mode.
Andover reached the finals by defeating Kent School 3–2 in the quarterfinals on Wednesday and edging Westminster School 4–1 in overtime in Saturday’s semifinal. Playing at Loomis Chaffee Wednesday afternoon, PA trailed fourth-seeded Kent 1–0 at the half. The Blue maintained a fairly conservative defensive posture after the break, but then midway in the second half shifted to a 4–3–3 alignment and went on the attack. The gamble paid off with 3 goals in an 11-minute span to put Andover ahead 3–1. Assisted by Castellot, Little scored with 16 minutes to play, and then scored again at the 11-minute mark, this time assisted by Brisco. With five minutes left, Little drew a foul in the box, setting up a penalty kick that was converted by Castellot. A late goal by Kent made it 3–2, but Andover held on for the victory and advanced to the semifinals.
The Blue had the opportunity to host their second-round game thanks to Westminster’s upset victory in the opening game over top-seeded Brooks School. Again it was Little finding the net for PA and converting an assist from Brisco to give the girls a 1–0 lead in front of an enthusiastic home crowd. The Westminster team battled valiantly throughout the rest of the game finally tying it up 1–1 with just two seconds on the clock. Despite the disappointment of losing the lead in that way, the PA girls rebounded quickly in overtime and began putting relentless pressure on the Westminster defense. Midway through the first 10-minute overtime period, Brisco got off a shot from close range that the Martlets’ goalie stopped, but in an effort to clear the ball from in front of the goal, a Westminster defender mis-kicked it, resulting in an own goal to put Andover ahead 2–1. The teams switched ends for the second overtime period, and Andover kept up the pressure. Castellot converted on a blast from the just outside the box on the right to make it 3–1, and then Eliza Nguyen ’09 was in perfect position on the far post to knock in a nice crossing ball from Rosie Raymond-Sidel ’08, making the final score 4–1.
After the final game victory, Coach Joel was full of praise for her gritty bunch. “This is a special moment for an absolutely great group of kids,” she said with obvious pride in what the girls had accomplished. On October 19, after a tough 2–1 loss to Northfield-Mount Hermon, the team’s record stood at a modest 6–4, but they proceeded to go on a 6–0–2 run to earn the NEPSAC crown. “Things got pretty dicey for us down the stretch with some key injuries,” observed Joel, “but we pieced things together and the girls responded beautifully to the challenge.” They did indeed, and now have the 2007 championship trophy to prove it.
Report submitted by Andy Cline
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