Youth Soccer: North Andover Ladybugz Tie Andover Leapords

The following article was submitted by the North Andover Soccer Association Committee.

The North Andover Ladybugz battled the Andover Leopards to a 1-1 tie on Saturday April 23. It was a wet and muddy game, saturated with spirit and effort, and to this ecstatically biased observer not so much a North Andover concession as a little dip in the springboard just preceding a giant leap into the bulk of the spring season. However the words “concession” and “dip” here speak to the enormous power and potential of this North Andover Ladybugz crew as the Andover opposition this day was a well-organized, well-coached, and powerful crew itself.

It was a good match with teams of approximately equal strength on that particular day, but the strengths of the two teams were very different from each other. The Ladybugz are a team of individuals and they were especially creative and their individual characteristics especially accentuated in this game.

The game ended with Jessica Langston the muddiest player. She had scored the North Andover goal as forward in the first half, and directed a stellar back line as center back in the second half including cutting off plenty of Andover shots herself with no regard to her distance from the ground or to the family’s dirty laundry bin.

The second-muddiest player was Chrissy Hogan, as keeper the top of the second half’s chain of command and responsible for having shut down enormously powerful Andover presses forward in the second half and keeping the game a tie. Congratulations Chrissy!

The third-muddiest player was Jenny Tabola, a critical member of the sub-less but stellar line of backs. Jenny is one of this team’s most creative and effective players and one of the tactics she employed in this particular game was getting possession of the ball but then not moving at all, to where the opposing players look around wondering why the game stopped, Did I miss a whistle?, but then she would be gone, dribbling down the field.

Hannah DiGiovanni, Maddie Zerbey, and Rebecca Salinas as midfielders contributed to powerful North Andover forward presses, at least as strong as Andover’s. Grace Fallon had a perfect first half in goal, her first ever time in goal this season. She is a keeper. Congratulations Grace! Sophie James and Sarah McGarvey were powerful forwards. Sarah’s dribbling explosions are in danger of becoming famous. This is a player who can dribble towards a corner flag, with the opposing defense organizing and preparing for a cross, you think she has dribbled so far towards the corner that she must either cross or pass back, going to goal is not an option anymore, but she has the speed to then turn and dribble around the opposing backs, beating them to the goal.

Katie Hogan  should not be the last player mentioned here as she was another critical player in the powerful back line and one who saw and filled gaps in the field ahead of her as needed, a truly intelligent and responsible player.

Next week the Ladybugz face Swampscott Stripers in what may be another loaded battle, another hugely competitive match, again at home, same time, same field, next Saturday. This spring season is considerably more exciting than the fall season was and it is great that we have a lot of work to do.