Girls' Hockey Falls to Both Andover and BB&N

The girls’ hockey team faced off against Andover away on Wednesday, Feb. 1 and Buckingham Browne & Nichols (BB&N) at home last Saturday. It suffered two disappointing losses.

Andover came into Wednesday’s game with a considerably stronger record than Exeter. Prior to the game, lower Kathryn Kester had expressed her hope that Exeter would “come into the game, give 100 percent and play to the best of our ability.” Big Red came up short in its game against Andover. In senior and co-captain Bonnie LaBonté’s opinion, goalies lower Michaela O’Brien and prep Cam McCrystal both played very well.

That said, senior and co-captain Sydnée Goyer cited Exeter’s inability to clear people from in front of the net as one of the team’s biggest weaknesses. The team also consistently “took bad angles when pressuring the puck.” Andover capitalized on that weakness and controlled the ice from the start. Big Red ended up with a hard 0-6 loss.

Two days after that game, the team played against BB&N. The girls sought to clean up some of the mistakes that had cost them their previous match. According to Goyer, the team “worked to improve competitive consistency” and tried to maintain speed from the first drop of the puck to the last whistle. However, come Saturday, those efforts proved futile; Exeter started off slow, letting up three goals in the first period. Frustrated, the team found some momentum in the second period. Though Exeter did not score, they largely held off BB&N, who only scored once. In the last period, prep Ally DeCoste tipped in a shot from upper Kaleigh Conte on a power play. Exeter ended the game with a 1-4 loss.

Last week’s results were especially disappointing given the team’s initial impression that they were ready to compete at a higher level of play. Looking forward, lower Kathryn Kester said that the team would be working on consistency, limiting odd man rushes, and bringing more energy to the ice. The team has been focusing on its energy for quite some time; hopefully, the back-to-back losses will fuel some fire in Exeter’s playing.

This Saturday, Exeter will go against New Hampton School in an away game. As for Andover, Big Red will have a chance to redeem itself on Feb. 18 at home.