Boys’ Hockey Ties Against Andover in Overtime, Coming Back from a 3-1 Deficit in the Third Period

Surrounded on all sides by fans clad in crimson and navy, boys’ varsity hockey rallied from behind to take Andover into overtime during its E/A matchup last Saturday. After five blaring minutes of extra play, neither team could put in a goal, leaving the final score at 3-3. This tie allowed Exeter to finish the regular season at 22-4-3 and retain a home playoff game, while simultaneously preventing its rivals from reaching the tournament at all.“A few weeks ago we set a goal for ourselves: to get home ice in the playoffs,” senior KyleAlexander said. “We knew going into the Andover game that a win or a tie would achieve ourgoal.”While Big Red had strong incentive to pick up the advantage of home ice, Big Blue had stronger motivation: not only was their team fighting for a playoff spot, it was also out to avenge a brutal 7-1 loss suffered at the hands of Exeter earlier on in the season. Andover did not disappoint, especially early on in the game. “They came out strong and ultimately took the lead,” senior Griffin Py said. “I was proud of our team for battling back.”Battle back they did. Finding themselves down 3-1, the boys revamped their effort, narrowing the gap with a goal from lower Devin Moore. Finally, with just three and a half minutes remaining in the third period, post-graduate Kevin Neiley netted the equalizer, his second goal of the game, to make the final score 3-3.“We have not had to fight for many wins, as we normally take a lead early, but it showed our resilience as a team,” Py said. “Kevin Neiley had an amazing game, scoring early and giving our team momentum and then again to tie it up, giving us the chance at an overtime win.”Alexander was also pleased with the team’s overall performance. “We played a solid 2.5 periods, struggling a little bit in the latter half of the first,” he said. “All in all, after being down 3-1, we were very happy to leave the rink with a tie and home ice in the playoffs.”Big Red entered yesterday’s quarterfinals as the #4 seed, pitted against #5 Noble & Greenough. Nobles went 16-5-1 in a regular season that included an 8-4 loss to PA, but also most recently a 5-0 win over St. Sebastian’s, a team Exeter defeated 5-2 at the end of January.Last night, Big Red defeated Nobles 5-3, pitting them against Salisbury on Saturday in the semifinals.“Moving forward, we need to focus on playing a full three periods of focused hockey,” Alexander said. “There are eight teams vying for a New England Championship, and all eight teams have the ability to beat the other seven. It's going to be a fun week and were hoping to come out of it with three wins and a New England title.” Big Red has taken one step in that direction, and hopes to go 2-0 over the weekend to pick up its first championship in 15 years.