Grey Ghosts Fall To Andover In Field Hockey, 3-0

Out behind Andover High School on Friday afternoon, reminders of the recent Snowtober storm were still in place, ranging from the whipping winds to a tree that had fallen into the stands and had yet to be removed.

But perhaps the biggest impact of the storm on the MIAA Division 1 North playoff field hockey contest between the Golden Warriors and the visiting Westford Academy Grey Ghosts was the differential in practice time over the previous week.

While second seeded Andover was able to keep sharp with practices during the week, the Grey Ghosts were unable to do the same due to wide spread power outages in Westford, leaving them ill equipped for what was ultimately a 3-0 Andover onslaught.

The preparation gap showed early on as Andover was able to pin the Grey Ghosts to their end of the field for most of the first half.

“It’s hard when you’ve been off the field for a week and you try to match the speed of a strong defending state championship team,” said Westford Academy head coach Reanne Gembis. “I think we were a little off, not being able to play this week.”

The Golden Warriors pressed their advantage halfway through the opening 30 minutes, as Megan Keefe tapped one home in the 11^th minute, followed by another just before the half.

Keefe finished off the hat trick five minutes after the half, but the Grey Ghosts seemed like they would get on the board as momentum turned in the home stretch, but ultimately Westford couldn’t capitalize on the swing.

From here, Andover will seek to continue their undefeated season on Sunday afternoon at home against Lincoln-Sudbury, a contest that Andover coach Maureen Noone isn’t looking past by any means.

“We just have to go game by game and take situations,” said Noone. “I think we’re really just trying to look forward to Lincoln-Sudbury, they’re a good team and they’re a turf team as well, so they’re quick and skilled.