Sports

JV Recaps

**Boys SOCCER:**

Boys JV Soccer capped off its undefeated season with a 2-1 win over archrival Exeter at home last Wednesday. After going down 1-0 in the first half, Andover emerged from halftime with a new intensity. Jason Jin ’15 sparked the comeback after rocketing a shot& into the net for the equalizer. Peder Bakken ’16 sprinted across the goalmouth and found the net with his head off of a corner, solidifying the 2-1 victory over Exeter. “We started off the game a little shaky and we weren’t really connecting our passes well, however, we were able to come out the second half and dominate,” said Peter Heckendorn ’17.

**Girls SOCCER:**

Andover JV Girls Soccer trumped Exeter 1-0 in its last game of the season. Courtney Masotti ’17 scored the only goal of the game near the end of the first half. Morgan Kuin ’17 and Corina Gudinas ’17 were aggressive on offense, creating many scoring opportunities. Claire Jacobson ’15 was an unbreakable force in the net. She was aided by her defenders, namely Nicole Diesk ’17, in maintaining the shutout. “It was a really emotional game and a strong finish to our season. We are proud of the way that we played. It was an awesome season. I’m going to miss the team so much,” said Diesk.

**FOOTBALL:**

Andover Junior Varsity Football finished its season with a 4-3 record to improve on last season’s 3-4 record. After winning its first four games of the season, the team succummbed to a three-game losing streak. The JV team was led by Varsity-JV swingers Jack Belluche ’16, Will Humphrey ’16, Dylan Norris ’16 and Matt Whalen ’16. Other swingers included Elijah Aladin ’15, Achindra Krishna ’15, Noah Ward ’17 and Justin Williamson ’16. Football’s highlight of the season was a large team effort against Central Catholic. “We weren’t the biggest team, and we weren’t the strongest team, but we worked hard over the course of the season, and we played as a team,” said Johnny Rex ’17. “That was the key to our success.”

**VOLLEYBALL:**

Down two games to one, Andover Girls JV Volleyball pulled itself together and executed an impressive comeback to tie Exeter 2-2. Andover struggled to finish points in the final set and fell to Exeter 3-2. Despite ending its season with a loss, the team showed improvement throughout the year and finished with a proud 8-6 record. “Our communication and team chemistry really grew,” said Olivia Xiong ’16. “Once we got to spend more time with each other, we all became super close, and that translated to a very positive environment on the court.”

**Boys CROSS COUNTRY:**

Leading the team with a personal record of 18:07, Jordan Swett ’15 raced to a 1st place finish for Andover and a 3rd place overall finish on Saturday. Swett’s race was one of the highlights from the afternoon, as the team fell 34-22 against an undefeated Exeter team. Of the 21 Andover racers, Swett, Matt Fischetti ’14, Chase Gottlich ’14, Max Lee ’15 and Jacob Peffer ’17 claimed the top five spots. Andover looks to avenge its loss to Exeter at the JV NEPSTA Division I Championships on Saturday.

**Girls CROSS COUNTRY:**

With seconds left in the race, Alana Gudinas ’16 sprinted past two Exeter runners, finishing first overall with a time of 21:16 and leading Andover Girls JV Cross Country to victory last Saturday. Charlotte Berry ’15 and Parker Tope ’16 finished just behind Gudinas in second and fourth place in times of 21:24 and 21:32 to cap off Andover’s undefeated regular season. The team’s most significant victory came against Deerfield, when the team suffered its only Varsity loss. Andover looks to end its season on a high note at Interschols on Saturday.