From the kickoff Hanover was on the front foot, barely missing on a handful
of opportunities in the opening 10 minutes. In the 11th minute the
relentless pressure finally overwhelmed the Concord defense. Central
midfielder Zane Schiffman intercepted a ball and flew through a seam in
to the Concord penalty box, while Eric Tysinger made a run towards goal
matching Zane stride for stride and splitting the lone Concord defender.
When Zane got the goalkeeper to commit he promptly (and unselfishly)
slide the ball over to Eric for what would have been an easy tap in
opening goal but the lone Concord defender, in a scramble, slide, in an
attempt to intercept the pass but could only get his toe to it and
redirected it in to the back of the net. The own goal stole a score from Eric and
assist from Zane but both players and the team were still happy with
result.
In the 27th minute, Concord misplayed
a pass in their own defensive third thanks to Alex Rockmore's high
press, a high press that would make Jurgen Klopp sit up and take
notice. From there Alex only had the keeper to beat and he stayed
cooler than the other side of the pillow and tucked it home low and in
the corner. One minute later on a Concord goal
kick, Hanover made sure to mark every white Jersey they could find in
an attempt to keep play in the Concord half as it had been for the first
27 minutes. Sure enough with every player marked the keeper was forced
to play an ill advised pass right to the feet of Jacob Kubik-Pauw, who
was about 30 yards out. He took a couple unmolested touches until he was
just inside the 18 and put a screamer past the Concord keeper. It
remained much of the same through the end of the first half, the ball
was in Concord's half for close to 90 percent of the opening 40 minutes.
After the break Hanover picked up right where they had left off,
knowing a 3-0 lead can be a dangerous one. They continued to put to
pressure on the Concord keeper. and seven minutes into the second half Eric
Tysinger put a hard shot on goal from the keeper's right that he managed
to get a hand on but not enough to direct it away from trouble. The
rebound found Johnny Reznek who had put himself in the poacher's position
just waiting for that rebound and he did not miss his opportunity,
finishing with a header for his first goal of the season.
Five minutes later with pressure continuing to mount in the Concord half
the Crimson Tide committed a hand ball just outside of their penalty area. Captain
Jack Ross stepped up to the right of the keeper from 19 yards out and
hit a strike that went untouched into the top corner of the net. It was his
second goal of that sort on the young season. Oscar Miller, who had frustrated and battled Concord defenders all day long finished
the scoring party in the 72nd minute. From 35 yards out Jacob Kubik-Pauw
played a gorgeous 18-yard through ball that found Oscar streaking down
the right hand side of the field, he settled the ball at his feet while
still running and was 1v1 with the keeper, he promptly tucked the ball
in the corner of the Concord net and wrapped up the Victory for the
young Marauders.
While it may seem that it was a
complete offensive victory a lot of the credit has to go to the defense.
The Centerback combinations of Captain Palmer Okai and Blake Goetinck
and Daniel Jaccaci and James Kirkpatrick spent the afternoon shutting
down any thoughts Concord had of breaking offensively. Stopping every
threat at midfield. Frustrated, the Concord offense resorted to clearing
the ball long and hoping one of their strikers would run on to it.
Hanover keeper Jackson Fisher made sure they would not find success with
that strategy. He spent the majority of the afternoon springing
lightning quick off his line to clear balls or cover them up before the
Concord strikers could even get a touch to them. Jackson was the field
general out there, shouting commands, giving orders and directing traffic
all afternoon. On the handful of opportunities Concord did find Jackson
stood his ground and smothered every chance they had. With two minutes
left in the game, Hanover was intent on keeping Concord off the scoring
sheet when a Concord striker broke free, got beyond our line of defense
and had nothing but green turf between himself and Jackson for 35
yards. Out of nowhere Connor Hamlin, in full sprint, managed to put
himself between the ball and Jackson just as the striker started to take
his shot. With no regard for his body Connor blocked that shot and took
a hard hit to the turf in the process ensuring that Hanover would keep
Concord off the board and giving Fisher his second clean sheet
in three games.
This was the most complete game the freshmen
have played to date, dominating play for a full 80 minutes. It was a
true a team effort with every player on the pitch for no less than 25
minutes. That moves the young Marauders to 3-0 on the young season and
if they continue to improve game after game as they have so far we can
not wait to see the level of soccer we are playing towards the end of
this season. It should be scary good and fun to watch
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