Traditional prep school lacrosse powerhouse Phillips Academy (a.k.a. Andover) simply proved too much for the freshman lax squad yesterday, as they dealt the frosh their fourth loss in five games, 6-4.
Trailing 5-1 in the fourth quarter, the Crimson finally got cooking in the offensive zone. Former prep school lax stars John Anderson and Fritz McLoughlin showed their displeasure with the upstart boys in blue by netting goals within a minute of each other to cut the margin to two.
A quick Andover penalty followed and McLoughlin again responded for his third goal of the day on a pass from John Grogan. But both momentum and time ran out on the Crimson's comeback try when Andover put a hot wax shine on their margin with a final rally at 11:36 of the final stanza.
Slipshod defense enabled the Blue to outslog Harvard on the muddy field en route to a 4-0 half time lead. Andover outshot the stickmen 16-12 in the opening half.
As the teams switched sides of the field likewise domination of the game switched. The Crimson held Andover to only two shots on net in the third period but could only tally once, as McLoughlin ripped the ropes on a set up from Grogan for the first of his trio.
Surprising Statistic
All told the most surprising statistic of the day was that Harvard outshot Andover 26-21 and still managed to lose the contest.
Had not freshmen been made eligible to play varsity lacrosse this year, the tables no doubt would have been turned. Last year the Blue were soundly tromped by the first year stickmen, but with eight freshmen playing regularly on the varsity this year Andover could hardly avoid taking advantage of the crippled squad.
The stickmen open fire on Naval Academy Prep on Saturday.
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