JV1 Loses 2-0 On the Road to Exeter

Playing the second of back to back matches, missing several players due to illness, and up against a tough opponent on the road, the JV1s lost 2-0 to Exeter on Wednesday.  The match was scoreless at halftime, and both teams had chances.  The Hawks scored two late goal to earn the win, dropping Hanover to 6-3 on the season.

Mitch Aspinwall made two good plays early in the match, one at each end of the pitch.  Four minutes into the game he made an important tackle at the edge of the penalty area on a counterattack, followed by a clear from Alec McDevitt.  Six minutes later Mitch earned a direct kick, but the low, hard restart missed a number of waiting feet in the six yard box.

Midway through the half Eli Bush hit a high floating shot that drifted high.  Shortly afterwards, goalkeeper Jack Maynes made a nice save on  direct kick off of a throw to keep the game scoreless.
Hanover threatened twice in the late going.  Owen Stannard jumped on a rebound outside the 18 and hit a shot that was just wide.  Two minutes later, Jake Reznek played Quincy McBride through, and he nearly got a toe poke on the ball to beat the keeper.

Hanover had their best chance to score early in the second half when Theo Sparks played a long ball from deep on the wing, with the Exeter goalie gobbling the ball up just before Mitch Aspinwall arrived.

Exeter got their first goal with 15 minutes remaining in the match when an Exeter striker won the ball just inside the attacking third and hit a hard shot into the upper corner for a 1-0 lead.  They put the icing on the cake with two minutes remaining when a Blue Hawk obstructed Maynes' path to the ball, and his teammate turned and fired the ball into the net.

Hanover gets a chance to rebound on Friday with a Homecoming match against Memorial at 4:00 on the HHS grass field.  All players  (and all Freshman and JV2 players) are requested to spend 15-20 minutes immediately after school Thursday tending to the grass field.  The match on Tuesday during the rain dug up a lot of divots.  If we can get a bunch of players out there after school and before the practice bus, we can get the pitch back into shape for a busy Friday.  Please turn out and bring everyone else, and give back to our poor abused field!