Exeter 9  Andover 10
Saturday, May 22nd - Andover, MA- Despite a great effort to come back from a 6-1 deficit, Exeter was defeated 10-9 in a hard fought and intense contest. The story of this game was the terrible beginning for Exeter that allowed Andover to score four unanswered goals to begin the game, and to build a 6-1 lead five minutes into the 2nd quarter. Exeter's errors on clearing the ball out of their own zone came back to haunt them once again. Poor passes, dropped balls, and bad decisions, led to Exeter allowing Andover to control the ball and repeatedly have extra opportunities on offense. Some of these opportunities, including a few unsettled situations, resulted in Andover goals. To add salt to the wound, Exeter committed two personal fouls and also had a 3-minute non-releasable illegal stick penalty assessed during this same time period. To Exeter's credit, they mounted a great comeback and started to play like the quality team they have been all season. Sloan Smith started the comeback with a rocket to the corner to cut the lead to 6-2 at the 6-minute mark of the 2nd quarter. Tom Petty followed 2 minutes later with the first of his four unassisted goals of the day to make it 6-3. When Eric Horan scored on a man-up assist from Sloan Smith just before the half, Exeter knew we were back in the game. Tom Petty struck first just one minute into the 2nd half to bring Exeter to within one goal, and also having all the momentum. However, another Exeter penalty gave Andover a man advantage just one minute later, and they scored to go ahead 7-5. Bobby Goulding responded off a feed from Tom Petty to make it 7-6, but Andover scored the next two goals to go ahead 9-6 at the 8-minute mark of the 3rd quarter. Tom Petty scored twice more before the third period ended, to make it a 9-8 contest going into the 4th quarter. The period was scoreless for the first five minutes with both teams generating quality shots that were saved by great goalie play at both ends of the field. A heartbreaking fluke goal was scored by Andover with seven minutes to go in the game. An Andover middie was caught in a double-team near the end line of the Exeter goal, and just before he was forced out of bounds, he flung the ball in desperation behind his back towards the field to just keep from losing possession. Amazingly, the ball went straight to an Andover player in front of the Exeter goal, who caught this unlikely pass and then scored their 10th and ultimately decisive goal. Four minutes later, with three minutes remaining in the game, Tim Redmond scored unassisted to cut the margin to one goal. There were several more great shot opportunities for Exeter, including a one-on-one situation off of a fast break, but the Andover goalie kept coming up with the big save. Exeter's defense of Dylan Cox, Tom Rubel, Jon Reed, and Alex Zani was doing a good job of forcing turnovers to give the offense opportunities, and at the 1:23 mark, Exeter cleared the ball into their offensive zone for yet another attempt to tie the game. A poor pass resulted in a loose ball in the Exeter zone. In the resulting loose ball scramble, Exeter was called for a hand touching the ball, and possession is awarded to Andover. An Exeter player was then called for delay of game for not putting the ball down properly. This was a very poor call that is rarely made in any game without a prior warning. This was just one of many calls that went against Exeter all day long, so when frustration caused the penalized player and a teammate to protest the call to the official, they were each hit with an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. This meant that Exeter would be two men down for the next minute, and one man down the rest of the game. Amazingly, the Exeter four-man defense managed to force an Andover turnover and get the ball back to the offense with 30 seconds left. However, being a man down did not allow Exeter to get the ball to a short stick and create an opportunity to get off a final shot. This was a tough way to end a great season, but it does not erase the accomplishments of this team and their impressive 15-4 record. Exeter now holds a 36-33-1 overall record against Andover in one of the oldest prep school rivalries that started in 1935.

Team	1st quarter	2nd quarter	3rd quarter	4th quarter	Game Total
Exeter	1	3	4	1	9
Andover	4	2	3	1	10

Game Scoring - Goals - Petty(4), Horan, Redmond, Goulding, Scalise, Smith

                           Assists - Petty(2), Smith

Saves/Shots on Goal - Rodier 15/25