Freshmen Remain Unbeaten, Defeating Merrimack 5-0

 The Freshmen Marauders took to the grass field at Hanover High school on Saturday looking to extend their great start to the season and move to 5-0 but first they would have to get through a very physical Merrimack team.  From the opening whistle, Merrimack showed that they wanted to be the aggressors, they wanted to come out and play as physical as was allowed, which on this Saturday seemed to be a no holds barred match. However, Hanover did not allow themselves to let this alter their play. They used their speed and ability to pass to overcome this rough play and it worked. Five minutes into the match, Augie Oberting, operating from the right side of pitch, switched the point of attack across the field and found Jacob Kubik-Pauw who was virtually all alone atop the Merrimack box, with only one defender in the area. Jacob made a shifty move, lost the defender and created more than enough space for him to hit a screamer from 20 yards out to the top corner of the net. The keeper managed to get a hand to it but it was so hard there was no stopping it.

    The next 25 minutes were a possession battle, with both teams fighting for opportunities, Hanover had a few chances with breakaways and balls over the top without anything materializing. Merrimack was finding it very tough to crack the code of the Hanover back four, something teams have been struggling with all season. Led by captains Palmer Okai and Luke Ives , the defense stood strong again and all Merrimack could hope for most of the day were long balls that hopefully their strikers could run on to. On the rare occasion that one of of our defenders couldn't cut it off Jackson Fisher was quick off his line to shut down any hint of a chance. Due to that Jackson did not need to make too many difficult saves on the day, except one very important one that would come late in the game. 

     In the 30th minute Eric Tysinger took a ball down to the right of the goal on the Merrimack touchline. He patiently shielded and waited for his two center midfielders, captain Jack Ross (who took the brunt of the over physical play all day with a smile on his face) and Zane Schiffman to make their runs at goal. Once they found space and with Eric drawing multiple defenders, Eric put the ball right on the six yard line, where all Zane had to do was redirect into the back of the Merrimack net. 

     As Hanover figured out through the first half of play, the wider and more spread out they got offensively, the more gaps of space would open in the middle. Nine minutes after Zanes' goal and with a minute to play in the half, They figured if it worked so well nine minutes earlier, they should try it again. This time it was Jacob KP from the left side, playing a wide open Zane in the same spot as the previous goal. For parity reasons, Zane went left foot this time. 

     As the boys were reminded at halftime a 3-0 halftime lead can be a dangerous one. If they too comfortable, Merrimack would march down the field and draw the game level in no time. They also knew that trailing 3-0,  Merrimack would come out and start even faster and more physical. Hanover was equal to the task. The Marauders came out of the break with just as much intensity if not more intent on seeing this game through to its conclusion. With the 3-0 lead Hanover put an emphasis on trying to move the ball around more and connect more passes since the Merrimack bench only had five players on it and Hanover had two full teams that they could continuously roll through to keep our legs fresh and our energy up while Merrimack's pace lessened and lessened. 

      With 20 minutes to play in the game Hanover committed a foul about 40 yards away from their goal. On the ensuing free kick as Palmer left his feet to head the ball away he received a very unfriendly and typically illegal shove to the back inside Hanover's own penalty box. The shove was violent enough that it caused Palmer's arm to fly away from his body and catch a piece of the ball. The whistle blew and even the Merrimack players assumed it was for the push in the back. However, it was not and Merrimack was awarded a penalty kick to everyone's astonishment. Jackson, who was stingy all day was laser focused on keeping a clean sheet and did not want Merrimack to be rewarded. As the Merrimack player struck the ball Jackson picked a side a dove to his right but the ball was hit dead center and while still in his dive Jackson extended his leg and caught enough of the ball to keep it out, diving on top of it before anyone could reach the rebound. The quote from the Hanover bench was "ball don't lie." Karma and Jackson Fisher made sure the shutout stayed intact

       The icing on the cake came with two minutes left in the game. Merrimack committed a foul outside their penalty area, almost at the corner flag. Matthias Einarsson stepped up to take the kick and with his left foot bent the ball up and over everyone and in to the top corner of the net. The young Marauders moved to 5-0 to start the season. Through five games they have only allowed two goals thanks to a very strong defensive unit and the game in and game out play of Jackson Fisher. The boys will take Monday off to hopefully get over and get past the sickness that has been taking its toll on almost all the players and will resume normal training session on Tuesday. They will next be in action on Friday the 28th when they will face Londonderry in a makeup of a previously postponed game.