The Danvers High School Varsity Girls Soccer Team hosted Andover Monday night in their annual non-league match.  Andover came into the match at 5-8-2.  Despite the record, Andover had only given up 3 goals in one game to Masco and 2 goals in one game to Wachusett.  Every other game they had played, was a 1 goal, tightly played game.  Danvers had lost to the Golden Warriors 2-1 a year ago in Andover and were hoping to turn the tables at Home.

 

"We reminded the girls of a year ago.  We challenged the girls to try and be the first Team to score 4 goals on Andover this season.  The girls really rose to the challenge."

 

Danvers played well throughout much of the first half, but were frustrated by Andover's back 5.  Anytime Danvers got into the visitors goal area, the Golden Warrior Sweeper was able to clear things out.  The Home Team got great attacking from sophomore forward, Emma Sutherland and freshman striker, Kaia Glover.  Finally though in the 28th minute, Danvers scored.  Junior center back Addi McCarty sent a serve over the Andover defense.  Senior captain, Georgia Prouty ran onto the bouncing ball and was able to shoot over the goalkeeper and into the net for the 1-0 lead.  3 minutes later Prouty scored again.  This time it was off a pass from junior Sabina Sturgeon.  Prouty hit a left footed bomb from over 30 yards out that found the upper corner of the Andover net.  The score was 2-0 at halftime.

 

"It took us a while to solve their defense.  We talked pre-game about hitting shots from distance and Georgia's goal was a beauty.  We almost had another midway through the half when Addi McCarty hit a 40 yard direct kick off their crossbar.  Shooting from distance was definitely a positive for us."

 

For the first 15 minutes of the second half, the Golden Warriors picked up their game.  They spent a lot of time in the Danvers end and senior captain, Maddie Dembowski had to make several saves to keep the game 2-0.  Soon after, the Falcons would turn it on.  Junior Ashley Freitas was immense in the midfield, battling for every ball on the field and shielding players off.  Juniors, Lila Doucette and DeAnna Figueiredo played well at both midfield and forward and and never stopped working on the field.  At the 15 minute mark, McCarty got her second assist of the night.  She hit a 50 yard, booming serve from the Danvers end of the field.  Georgia Prouty sprinted onto it and right footed a shot over the goalie for her hat trick and the 3-0 lead.  

 

"Addi is such a weapon for us.  She can hit the ball well over 50 yards so at times it can be instant offense for us.  She has 8 assists on the season."

 

Danvers got several more scoring opportunities throughout the second half.  The best came off the foot of junior Lila Doucette when she bent a right footed shot on goal that looked as though it was destined for a score.  However, the Andover keeper made a fantastic diving save to her right to keep the ball out.  Danvers got creative play from senior winger, Gianna Sutherland and junior winger, Claudia Drakos.  Defensively, juniors Sabina Sturgeon and Lila Flynn, along with freshmen Maddie Hanas, Cassidy Randall and Ali Doucette all limited Andover from any good changes in the Danvers end.  With 7 minutes to play, Prouty raced up the left side of the field and sent a low cross into the Andover box.  The pass found freshman, Maddie Hanas wide open about 15 yards from goal.  The young defender one timed a hard shot with her right that beat the goalie and gave Danvers the 4-0 lead.

 

Only 1 minute after, Andover was awarded a penalty kick for being taken down from behind.  The visitors got on the scoreboard with the successful PK to make the game 4-1.  Less than 1 minutes later, Prouty added one more to her total.  She took a pass from Figueiredo about 40 yards from goal and belted in a gorgeous long range goal to make the score 5-1.  Danvers continued to threaten right up until the final whistle.  Senior defender, Lizzie Owen had 3 straight dangerous corner kick serves that almost resulted in a goal.  When the final whistle blew, Danvers had a 5-1 victory and had improved their record to 12-2-3.

 

"Georgia, Addi and Ashley were on fire tonight.  Georgia is almost impossible to stop when she's playing like that and Ashley was dominant in the middle of the field as she has been all season long.  Addi has been a force in the back for us.  She has consistently beaten opponents to the ball and she's really gotten into the attack with her long serves.  The entire Team really stepped it up when we needed to and this was a really solid win for us."