The seventh and eighth grade Andover Eagles co-ed soccer team finished a winning season on October 21 with a big win over Franklin, a team that had previously beaten us twice.
Our first match-up against Franklin Middle School was early in September, on a frigid Saturday morning during an AE/MS-hosted jamboree on Carr Field at Proctor Academy. Franklin beat the Eagles handily, with Andover scoring zero shots.
A rematch in October showed just how much progress the Eagles had made in a month: up at the half, we lost by one goal in the final minutes of the game. Though this was a victory in itself, we were hungry for one more game, knowing we had the capability to pull out a win.
Momentum had been steadily growing. As the season progressed, the team began to hear comments that went something like this: “Wow! Is that the same team we played before?” This was especially true after a 2-0 win against an all-boys Kearsarge team who had beaten us three times previously!
To get ready for our last match-up against Franklin, we practiced every day of the school week, focusing on speaking kindly to one another when a mistake was made, making good and crisp back passes, communicating, and angling out Franklin’s extremely fast striker – and we did it!
AE/MS goalie Will Furtkamp was unlucky with Franklin’s only goal – a penalty shot. The rest of the time he controlled the back like a boss, coming out when necessary, being vocal, and sending the ball out to our defensive mid-field players.
As usual, our defensive force showed up, angling out the offensive attack: Lilly Furtkamp and Cedar Kiedaisch out on the wings and Elijah Wakeman, Vienna Marcus, and Jazlyn Perkins controlling the middle defense in front of the goal with the ability to send the ball far and wide with their tremendous kicks.
Our midfielders, who have to run the most, were Tori Braley, Elijah Wakeman, Vienna Marcus, James Southworth, Sadie Barton, and Ryelle Jenifer. They hustled up and down the field, sometimes making their own goals, sometimes setting up our forwards: Caleb Chevarie, Riley Keezer, Gavin Elliott, Liam Donovan (also a terrific goalie), and Katie Bent of the killer left foot.
Caleb had a great goal after following a shot off the side-bar, and Elijah (playing with a sore knee) scored our second goal in the final minute of the game with a corner kick; the team bench went crazy. We ended with a 2-1 win, a fantastic end-of-season game on a beautiful October afternoon.
This team came so far in two months! In late August, a little rusty from summer, we may have somewhat resembled the Bad New Bears, with just 12 players (down from a talented squad of 28 from the previous year). We were up to 15 players by the middle of September, though still not expecting to win many games.
We hit our stride at mid-season, stepping up and playing every game with heart and demonstrating better ball handling. After wins against Campton, Kearsarge, and Franklin, we ended the season with a winning record (6-5-1), learned how to play the game of soccer a little better, and had great fun along the way.
A special thanks to Athletic Director Jim Tucker; Proctor Academy; and the parents who provided snacks, rides, missing mouth guards and cleats and supported us on the sidelines. It’s always bittersweet to see our eighth graders move on, but we look forward to hearing about their soccer seasons next year. And to my seventh graders and upcoming sixth graders – see you on the field next year!