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Sports

Warriors roll by Westford

Second half outburst powers Andover to sectional final.

For ten minutes it looked like the Westford girls lacrosse team was going to spoil Andover’s run through the sectional. The problem for the Grey Ghosts was that the Golden Warriors had 40 minutes to respond.

Andover rattled off eight straight goals to turn a two-goal, first half deficit into a six-goal lead and cruised past Westford 14-6 and earned a date with Lincoln-Sudbury tomorrow night for the Division North Section Championship.

“Give Westford a lot of credit; they came out to play,” Andover coach John McVeigh said. “They tried to play a deliberate pace early and it was working. I think we adjusted to that, and once we started running I felt like we were playing our kind of game.”

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The Golden Warriors tied the game late in the first half before senior Kate Farnham scored in the last minute to put Andover up for good. Farnham was one of eight goal scorers for the Golden Warriors.

Westford junior goaltender Kalie Boyd stopped seven of Andover’s 11 first half shots before allowing 10 of 13 past her in the second half. McVeigh was quick to praise Boyd’s early performance as well as his team’s ability to eventually put the ball past her.

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“We got some pretty good shots in the first half, but their goalie played great,” McVeigh said. “I told her at the end of the game that I thought it was the best any goalie has played against us this year.

“We talked at halftime about trying to get great shots and the ball would go in if we got great shots. Once we opened the second half nicely we relaxed and got into our game.”

Senior All-American, and University of Connecticut-commit, Ally Fazio led the Warriors by example with four goals and a pair of assists.

Sophomore Weezie Gross netted a hat trick and junior Jaclyn Torres scored a pair of goals, including the eventual game winner early in the second half.

“When you have one really great player that helps you for some games, but when you play good teams it doesn’t really help you,” Fazio said. “For our offense we all can score; we’re all good at passing, catching, finishing.”

Westford junior Bailey Mongilo played well in defeat scoring three goals, but Ghosts coach Julie Olivier was not pleased with her team’s performance.

“Unfortunately we did not play our best game,” Olivier said. “I can definitely say that. It’s not being a poor loser; we just didn’t play our best game.”

Even though the Grey Ghosts will have to wait another year to have a crack at the Division North final, Olivier was optimistic because almost all of her team will be back next spring.

“We’re good; we’re only losing two seniors,” Olivier said. “One was a starter and one wasn’t. We’ll be good.”

As for the victorious Warriors, Lincoln-Sudbury looms large. Lincoln eliminated Andover last year in the North final and McVeigh said that his team will have to play well in all facets of the game to defeat them.

“They’re a great team,” McVeigh said of L-S. “They’re as talented a team as I’ve ever coached against. We have a ton of respect for them. It’s going to take an outstanding team effort. No one person can beat them.”

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