ANDOVER — Neila Foohey said it’s coming. It’ll just be a matter of time before the junior striker and her teammates find the back of the net.
On Thursday night, Foohey and her Andover High teammates outplayed and outshot their non-league opponent Belmont, but came up short, losing 1-0.
The Golden Warriors held a 9-5 advantage in shots – including a handful of opportunities from Foohey – and held an 8-2 advantage in corner kicks, but could never get the equalizer, after Belmont’s Catherine Grenier scored the lone goal with seven minutes left in the first half.
“It’s definitely frustrating not seeing the ball hit the back of the net,” said Foohey. “We all put in our one hundred percent tonight, so we know (the goals) are coming. I’m excited about that. I think we’re good.”
The Golden Warriors struggled to score throughout last year, too. Thursday night wasn’t necessarily about Andover not finishing, but more about facing an outstanding goalie Martha Dimas. She made two ten-bell saves, both in the second half. She punched out a direct kick from 40 yards out on a shot taken by Molly Purtschert. That came right after Foohey drilled a shot from 20 yards out which ricocheted off the keeper’s face.
“I just made a few moves around the defense. I tried to kind of hit it left, but I think my angle (was off and the shot went right at her),” explained Foohey. “She was a really good goal. She made a lot of good saves tonight. I think they had a good defense, but their goalkeeper really is a factor.”
Andover head coach Meghan Matson was obviously disappointed with the loss, but said there’s so much potential for this team to not only score goals, but win a lot of games.
“We have some offensively minded kids and they just run full speed ahead,” she said. “We are very dynamic on the field this year. We’re a bit more dynamic than we’ve been in the last couple years.”
The coach added that the team had a terrific pre-season and was hoping to take that momentum into the opener.
“They came (into the preseason in) really good shape. I loved their intensity and how hard they played tonight,” said Matson. “We created a lot of chances. Their goalkeeper was really great. The score would have been a lot different if she wasn’t there. We had eight corner kicks and we hardly any corner kicks last year. So if we can continue to just create those offensive opportunities, (the goals will come).”
Andover will have four days to continue to work on the offense – and finishing – before taking on Chelmsford on Tuesday.
“It just going to take repetition,” said Foohey. “We showed up with good fitness this year, so I think like we’re all ready to do our part. It’s just about getting more movement off the ball. Once we get more comfortable with that, we should be good.”
Defensively Andover was strong all night behind the play of Alexis Birney, Bailey Heckman, Purtschert and Grace Johnson, as well as goalie Mikayla DeLuca.