Andover lax advances to semis
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Saturday, June, 04
By Christopher Smith
Staff writer
ANDOVER — Who likes practice?
The Andover High girls lacrosse does during playoff time, of course.
“Our big saying before games is ‘We want to have another practice, we want to have another practice,’” senior Emily Shields said.
Andover lived to play — or practice — another day as it won 18-11 over Acton Boxboro in the Division 1 North semifinals yesterday. The Golden Warriors (21-1-0) advanced to the semifinals against the winner of Westford Academy/Lexington at a time and location to be determined.
The Andover defense has been extremely strong this year and has continued that trend in the playoffs. It entered the postseason having allowed just 6.4 goals per game during the regular season. The Golden Warriors held Haverhill to four goals in Round One before holding Acton Boxboro to 11.
The defensive starters are Shields, Jaymi Cohen and Jackie Alois.
“It all starts with defense,” said Shields who will play at American University on a Division 1 scholarship next year. “And with our slides we’re always there but if not we know (goalie Jill Beucler) is always there to back us up. And with eight meters, if we get to a shot quicker, if we can block the shot off, then we know she’s going to have an easy save. So we do whatever to make sure she has an easy save.”
Meanwhile, senior Meghan Morris and sophomore Meagan Keefe provided the offense yesterday.
Keefe scored five goals, while Morris added four goals and one assist.
“I think I’ve done it once (score five goals in a game) but the playoffs is a good time to do it again,” Keefe said.
Morris is headed to play lacrosse next year at Siena College on a athletic and academic scholarship.
“We had a good start today,” Morris said about the offense. “We came out strong. We scored a lot of goals in the beginning. ... And our defense is so energetic and just works so hard. Defense is really what wins games. They trust each other and work together and just when they do well, everyone else does well.”
Andover led 11-7 at halftime.
In five of the past six years, Andover has made it to the Division 1 North semifinal. But the Golden Warriors have never gotten past the semifinals.
Will this be the year they get to practice on?
We’ll see.
Game Statistics:
Goals: A — Meagan Keefe 5, Meghan Morris 4, Ally Fazio 2, Jen Caro 2, Sara Miller 2, Anne Farnham, Emily Shields 2
Assists: A — Morris, Gross, Fazio 3, Kate Farnham
Saves: A — Jill Beucler 4
