Andover Boys Lacrosse Captain Austin Gaiss ’14 burst into the crease and released a shot that flew under the opposing goalie’s stick and into the net to tie the game at 5-5 in the third quarter against Dexter Southfield on Friday.
Gaiss’s shot and subsequent momentum fueled three consecutive goals in the fourth quarter from Tim Bulens ’15, Jacob Tomsik ’17 and Foster LeBoeuf ’15, propelling Andover to a close 10-9 win.
Dexter maintained possession of the ball for a large part of the fourth quarter and at times threatened Andover’s lead.
“Three goals early in the fourth quarter gave a little breathing room, and we obviously needed it,” said Gaiss.
“Against Dexter, we got away with some little mistakes. The effort is there, but the execution sometimes isn’t,” said Head Coach Stephen Moreland.
Goalie Clark Perkins ’14 added, “A win’s a win. We should be thankful and happy for that. But there are some tougher opponents coming up that we will have to play at a higher level for.”
Brewster snapped Andover’s winning streak with a 13-8 loss this Wednesday.
“It was a real test for us at every position. There were no easy match-ups on defense, especially for Will Young [’14] who was covering their best attackman. It was no cakewalk for our offense either: they were going up against some serious poles,” said Taylor Chin ’14.
Against such a notoriously tough opponent, Andover struggled to gain momentum.
“If you make a slight mistake, suddenly they’ll put in a goal. It’s just the little mistakes, and if we button down those, I think we’ll be able to compete,” said Gaiss.
Chin added, “Coach Moreland summed it up perfectly when he told us that we played with a lot of heart, but that our execution lacked at times, and against a team as tough as Brewster, little mistakes end up being the deciding factor.”
Andover plays Bridgton Academy today to close out its home stand.
