Andover's Heather Sullivan remembers the first goal she ever scored in field hockey.
"Last year, I was playing on the JV team and they just threw me in at forward," she said. "I scored a goal and the coach looked around and said, 'Was that (Heather)?"
No one is shocked now when the senior quad-captain scores. In 10 games this season, through Monday, Sullivan has notched a team-high 14 goals. But they had reason to be surprised early on. After all, she had always played goalie before this season.
"I am always amazed by her," said Andover field hockey coach Maureen Noone. "She has picked so much up so fast. What she does around the net is just amazing."
An athlete from a young age, Sullivan began playing field hockey in the eighth grade and was immediately made a goalie. A year later, when she moved up to the high school team, she remained a netminder.
"We made her a goalie because she was very good at kicking the ball away," said Noone. "You wanted her in a key position, and she became quite a good goalie."
Despite her skills, Sullivan found herself stuck behind starting netminder Tameka Geaslen, who earned the job as a freshman. She then began considering the move to another position.
"I liked goalie," said Sullivan, also a lacrosse standout. "Practice was fun, but during games I would get bored because there weren't many shots on me. Tameka was great, and I wasn't going to get much playing time. I wanted to be able to contribute."
During her junior year, Sullivan would occasionally practice as a field player while serving as backup goalie. And when she was finally put into a JV game at forward, she recorded the goal.
Once this season started, Sullivan was back in net, splitting time with Hannah Pratt as Geaslen recovered from knee surgery. But once Geaslen was back, Sullivan made the move full-time to forward.
"We had two weeks of practice before the first game," she said, "so I was hoping to score a goal right away."
Sullivan did just that in Andover's season-opener, scoring her first career varsity goal in the 7-0 win over Lawrence. She was held off the scoreboard in the next two games, but wasted no time breaking out.
In the fourth game of the season, the 17-year-old scored two goals against Methuen. That kicked off a streak in which she scored at least two goals in five consecutive games. The peak was her first career hat trick, against Lawrence. Currently, she has scored at least one goal in seven straight games.
"She is a cherry picker," said Noone. "She's not used to carry the ball, but she can put the ball in the net from any angle. She receives the ball very well, and anything in front of the net, she's not going to miss."
Her 14 goals, through Monday, lead the Golden Warriors by seven. Despite not recording an assist, she also leads the team in points by three. Last year's team leader scored 17 goals in 19 games.
"I just try to get low and punch the ball in the net," she said. "As a post player, if it's in my area, I try to sweep it in."
Behind her offense, the Golden Warriors have compiled a 9-1-0 record, including eight straight wins.
It should surprise no one that Sullivan has the scoring touch. Last spring, she led the lacrosse team in goals with 53, nine better than the No. 2 scorer. Her 63 points were good for third on the 17-6 Golden Warriors.
"Playing attack in lacrosse really transferred over easily to field hockey," she said.
Sullivan will continue her lacrosse career in college at Division 2 powerhouse Stonehill. Last season, the Skyhawks went 14-3 and won the Northeast-10 championship.
Cheering on
It's no wonder Sullivan knew how to root on her teammates when she was a backup. After all, cheerleading is in her blood.
Sullivan's identical twin sister Kelly is one of the captains of the Andover High cheerleading squad, and older sister Kathryn, now a student at Boston College, was one of the football cheerleading captains.
"We live very separate lives," said Heather. "We both started in gymnastics. She ended up sticking with gymnastics, and I wanted to play more sports where I can run around."
