Andover Bests Pingree
On an overcast Wednesday afternoon, Andover put together another complete performance, relying on their full roster, to best visiting Pingree 12-1.
The scoring opened in the first ten minutes with Ellis Denby (2024) playing a delightful through ball to split Pingree’s backline before Camden Willems (2024) did his thing - we’re calling it the Cam special now - of cutting across the 18 and driving home a shot from outside the box.
Garret Holman (2024) had a day among Andover’s backline, spraying balls forward for midfields and strikers to get on the end of. Andover’s second came from Holman lofting a perfectly-weighted ball over Pingree’s center back for Denby to run on to. Denby still had much work to do, and he dribbled past the keeper with composure before slotting the ball home.
Denby was instrumental in Andover’s third as well (you’re probably picking up on a theme here) when Marc Nelson (2025) released Denby down the line, who surged forward against Pingree’s backs before finding Liam Rourke (2024) who had a tidy finish past Pingree’s keeper.
Rafiq Kasumov (2025) made an immediate impact after being substituted on with 20 minutes to go in the half, putting together a dynamic shift on the right wing. He found Kai Myles (2027) in the box, who finessed a finish home, for Andover’s fourth.
Denby couldn’t stay off the scoresheet for long, and after Kasumov combined with him on the edge, Denby sliced through Pingree’s final third to slot home his second on the day.
Pingree got on the scoreboard with 11 minutes to go in the first period after a well-weighted corner kick. Pingree’s player volleyed home a great finish into the corner of the net.
Andover responded well with the Myles/Kasumov duo striking again - Myles splayed a great ball wide to Kasumov on the edge, who took on his man, found a line into Pingree’s box, and put the ball past the keeper. The two would orchestrate yet another goal before the end of the half, with Myles again playing Kasumov in, who surged into the box and delivered a ball across the face of goal that led to an own goal.
Denby notched his hat trick with a great strike from outside the 18 at the start of the second half, and Spencer Madge (2025) also scored from distance with an assist from Everett Woo (2025). Madge earned an assist not long after by playing Zane Matraji (2024) through, and Matraji pinged the ball into the corner with 15 minutes left in the game. Ryan Lam (2024) played great on the left wing for the Big Blue, finding Madge with a couple of minutes to left, and Madge scored his second with a great finish into the top corner. Madge and Lam combined again for Andover’s final goal, with Lam slotting home a through ball from Magde.
Andover’s performance was possible with great shifts from all players, particularly Alvin Liu (2024) and Spencer Salhanick at outside backs, Louis Thomas Vincent (2025), Alex Lee (2025, and Everett Woo (2025) in the midfield, and Elijah Robinson (2025) and Jonathan Bu (2026) up top. Marc Nelson and Paul Gichana were great on the wings, as well.