WORCESTER — The Andover High field hockey team made its fourth straight appearance in the MIAA Division 1 state championship game and after winning titles in 2021 and 2022 against Walpole, the Porkers got revenge not just last year but also on Saturday afternoon, winning 2-0.
Walpole, the No. 2 seed, won its 14th state championship title in program history, dominating the No. 4 seed Golden Warriors all four quarters, played before a packed house at the John Coughlin Memorial Field on the campus of Worcester State College.
Walpole scored both goals midway through the first quarter, and throughout the game had an 19-3 advantage in offensive corners and a 15-2 advantage in shots.
Andover goalie Lucy Baker was sensational, making 13 saves in all, including a handful down low with the blocker, and a few high ones as well.
The loss ends Andover’s season with a 19-3-1 record, while over the past four years the program has a combined record of 80-7-2.
“These last two years it really felt like we had to build up to get here,” said second year head coach Bridget Morris. “It wasn’t like we had 21-0 seasons. We’ve had some losses. But I really felt like these kids showed up every say and did everything I asked them to do. They just all buy into Andover High field hockey.”
Midway through the first quarter, Walpole scored two goals within a 56-second span. Right after goalie Lucy Baker made a nice low blocker save, the Porkers scored as Emily Hagan came down the right side and slid a pass over to Kate Schneider, who 1-timed the shot to the back of the net. It was her 103rd career point.
Immediately after that, Walpole was awarded a corner which led to a big shot by Jenna Wong was kicked out by Baker but Sophia Fruci pounced on the rebound to make it 2-0.
Walpole completely dominated the third quarter with eight corners and seven shots on net, all turned away by Baker.
The Porkers had four more corners in the fourth quarter, but the Golden Warriors’ defense of Scarlet Glass, Molly Ulrich and Shannon Paul did a great job of clearing out the ball.
At the other end, Andover had just two shots on net throughout the entire game, both by Glass.