Andover 4, Totino-Grace 3
The Eagles set their minds on ensuring pressure on the ball, finding the midfielders quickly, and competing for 80+ minutes. Less than three minutes into Northwest Suburban Conference Match Day Two, the Eagles junior, captain Ty Michaelson served a ‘heads-up’ ball down the left wing where Junior midfielder/defender Logan Chaput played a timely cross into the middle that met the head of Jabari Kibisu, whose well-timed run was too much for the Huskie center back to handle. Kibisu did a great imitation of a Giroud header, beating the keeper with force to the near post. The Eagles worked at managing the one goal lead for the rest of the half. Junior keeper Everett Schutta anchored a backline that worked to limit the Andover attack. An apparent ‘pass back’ by the Huskie backline was first cited as a handball in the box but after a discussion with the AR, the center ref changed his mind. Then, with under three minutes remaining in the half, a quick counter off a turnover, saw Andover level the score going into halftime. Halftime gave the team a chance to regroup and discuss the ebb and flow of the match. Five minutes into the second half, another Andover counter-attack produced a thruball that resulted in a footrace–the husky outran a few eagles and T-G were down a goal. Less than two minutes later, senior midfielder, Tanner Johnson, won the ball off of Andover and played it ahead to Kibisu. Jabari outmuscled two defenders while marching into the penalty area where he wrong-footed the defender before lifting his shot over a sliding defender and desperate keeper: 2-2. Just three minutes later, a well-timed run by an Andover forward, again, beat the Eagles backline to get in on goal, dribbling past the Eagles keeper to make it 3-2. Fifteen minutes later, the Huskies served a freekick in following what, some might argue, was a debatable foul. The Eagles failed to cover the danger and Andover looked poised to ride the game out for a comfortable W. The Eagles turned up the pressure, producing numerous shots and half chances that ultimately lead to a free kick by senior, captain Fran Serna, who sent his service to the far post where junior captain Vince Jacob outran his defender and headed it past the Andover keeper to cut their lead to 4-3 but the horn blew and the game ended 4-3. The Eagles had eight shots and four saves while the huskies had eight shots five saves. The positive was a team showing progress, the negative was the defensive breakdowns. In the postgame discussion, the team spoke of a commitment to the hard work required of defending for 80+ minutes, while also celebrating the impressive goals earned by Kibisu, Jacob, Chaput, Johnson, and Serna. The Eagles are grateful for the away support of family and friends and invite everyone to Wednesday night’s home game vs. Armstrong at 7PM.