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Andover girls soccer topples Central, the No. 2 team in US

Friday, September, 23 By Michael Muldoon
Staff writer

Now that’s the way to proclaim, “We’re back!”
Last night at Lawrence Stadium, Andover toppled mighty Central Catholic, 1-0.
Not only is Central the defending Division 1 state champ, but the Raiders are ranked No. 2 in the Adidas/National Soccer Coaches Association of America national poll.
But No. 2 went down as senior midfielder Lauren Pien scored four minutes into the game and sophomore keeper Emily Wilson (8 saves) made it stand up.
“We knew going in we had a good team,” said eighth-year Andover coach Meghan Matson. “We knew this was the year we could give Central a run for its money.”
Central has gotten the best of Andover of late (5-0-1 in previous three years) but there was no fear in the Golden Warriors.
“They were super fired up and ready. I don’t think we were nervous,” said Matson.
It never hurts to get that first goal and Pien took care of that. She took a Hannah LeBlanc cross, settled the ball, maneuvered toward the corner and drilled the game-winner.
“It was a beautiful goal,” said Matson.
But there was a long, long way to go. Central didn’t go down quietly.
“They had some very good opportunities,” noted Matson. “Our goalie saved the game for us. And a minute after we scored, Sarah Van Antwerp cleared the ball off the line.”
Matson also gave praise to Michelle Gagnon on defense and Sophie Draper and Courtney Grygiel up top.
This signals the official return of historically strong Andover, which over the previous three years was just a combined two games over .500 (26-24-12).
Andover improved to 6-0-1 while Central dropped to 4-1. Despite its impressive start, Andover earned little respect. The Golden Warriors were unranked in the ESPN Boston top 20 statewide poll and didn’t crack the Boston Globe’s EMass preseason top 20. Central was No. 1 in both.
“We’ve been underestimated a bit,” said Matson.
Casey Grange, whose club lost for the first time since Game 2 of the 2010 season, had nothing but praise for Andover.
“You have to hand it to Andover,” said the second-year coach. “They definitely took it to us. I think it will help us in the end but it stings right now.”
She didn’t deny there was a lot of pressure being No. 2 in the US, which may have been the highest national ranking ever for a local team in any sport.
“It’s great to say we are the second best team in the country,” she said, “but everybody is gunning to beat the No. 2 team in the country. It’s not exactly easy. The better team won tonight.”