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Brenna Keefe scored twice and Darsie Peterson also tallied as Andover field hockey handed Danvers its first loss. Jillian Hughes and Caroline Curtin dominated the midfield.

Brenna Keefe scored twice and Darsie Peterson also tallied as Andover field hockey handed Danvers its first loss. Jillian Hughes and Caroline Curtin dominated the midfield.

Tori Roche and Emma Farnham eached scored three goals as Andover field hockey beat Haverhill 6-0. Brenna Keefe and Jillian Hughes each had two assists as well.

NORTH ANDOVER — Coming off a season-opening loss to Longmeadow and facing a halftime deficit to archrival North Andover, Andover field hockey coach Maureen Noone admitted that she wasn't sure what to expect when her team took the field in the second half.
When play resumed, however, Andover lived up to its lofty expectations, rallying for two late goals to win 2-1 in a clash of two of the state's top teams. 
"I thought it was one of the nicest field hockey games," Noone said. "I was fearful when the ball went in early in the first half, I wasn't sure how we were going to respond. We started out with a loss this season, so I wasn't sure how we were going to react to that, but I was pleasantly surprised."
Though Andover controlled the possession for most of the first 10 minutes, North Andover was able to capitalize on one of its few early opportunities. After drawing a penalty corner, junior midfielder and Duke University commit Lexi Davidson found the ball in a scrum and put it away to give the Scarlet Knights a 1-0 lead.
Andover continued to pressure the North Andover zone from there, but try as they might, the Golden Warriors just couldn't get a shot all the way through to the net. At one point the Warriors drew three consecutive penalty corners, and were not able to get a good shot on any of them. 
Coming out of the halftime break, North Andover started to get more pressure on the Andover net, at one point drawing two straight penalty corners itself. But just as quickly as North Andover seemed to pick up momentum, Andover seized it right back, as sophomore forward Katherine Furry finished off a nice sequence to tie the game at 1-1 with 22:46 to play in the game.
Then with 15:54 to play, Andover struck again as senior captain Tori Roche ripped a shot off a penalty corner and scored to give the Warriors a 2-1 lead. Though North Andover had a couple of good chances in the last two minutes, Andover was able to hold on for the win.
"It was back and forth," Noone said. "Obviously they're extremely skilled, and we came in knowing we may not have had the skills, but we would do our best to sub quicker to keep fresh legs out there and do what we're able to do, and I think the kids stepped up."
Noone singled out her midfielders and defenders in particular for doing all the things that don't show up on the scoresheet.
"I thought Jillian [Hughes] and Caroline [Curtin], our midfielders, played outstanding," Noone said afterwards. "Caileigh Reming stepped up on defense, she also had to flip when one of our mids was too tired, so we moved her up. She's very versatile, she did a great job."
Andover is at Haverhill on Friday, and North Andover will look to bounce back at Dracut on Friday. Both games are scheduled to begin at 4 p.m.