Fresh off of their exciting win over unbeaten Bedford, Hanover faced another tough test on Wednesday, traveling to Keene to face the unbeaten (4-0) and highly ranked (5th in the first New England Regional poll) Blackbirds. Keene was for real. They had beaten Exeter on the road, and their leading scorer Owen Fauth, had tallied 13 goals in four games. Hanover had already seen them this season, losing a preseason scrimmage.
The Marauders prepared well, took the match seriously, and squeezed the life out of Keene, limiting them to two total shots on goal and patiently earning a 2-0 victory. Hanover played another strong defensive game, with seven different defenders playing a role, led by center backs Dillon Bradley and Kyle Doucette. Matty Gardner and Charlie Adams took care of the scoring, and the Marauders upped their record to 3-0 on the young season.
Keene started strongly, and for the first three minutes they pinned the Marauders in their end. Hanover's first foray into the Blackbird end of the pitch almost ended in disaster for the home team, as Adams took a ball and burst into space past two defenders, nearly finding Christo Dragnev alone at the far post. A minute later, Hanover took the lead. The Marauders earned a corner, and Liam Collins send a perfect serve to the front post, where Matty Gardner met the ball perfectly and deflected it into the net for a 1-0 lead.
The well-coached Keene team didn't panic, and managed to make several great defensive plays to keep themselves in the match. Blackbird goalkeeper Charlie Zwierzchowski made a brilliant save on Adams a few minutes later, and midway through the half denied Liam Collins, who hit a sweet free kick headed for the upper right corner, only to see Charlie Z make a spectacular flying save. Ten minutes later, Adams made another run through the Keene defense and beat Zwierzchowski, only to see his shot cleared off the line by a great defensive play. The ball eventually clanged off the crossbar, and was cleared out of bounds. Only a minute later, Adams played Eli Stack in alone, and Zwierzchowshi made yet another great save to keep his team in contention. Finally, a great cross from Amane Matsuoka, a puzzle for Keene all afternoon on the right flank, found David Stoffel alone at the far post, but his volley sailed over the bar.
Keene did well territorially, keeping possession at midfield well, and working hard to set up shots in their attacking third. They could not, however, penetrate a disciplined Hanover defense that pressured them without diving in, and won a number of 50-50 balls in their own end. Keene managed to earn two corners (as opposed to six in the half for Hanover), and authored their only two shots of the match, one of which found its way to Joey Perras in the Hanover goal, who made a good diving save on the partially-deflected ball. That was, unfortunately for Keene, all of the offense they would be allowed to muster.
As Bedford found out on Friday, much to their consternation, dominating the first half and leading by a goal doesn't mean much of you don't stay focused. They razor-thin margin forced the Marauders to work hard at both ends in the second half, and they responded. They completely throttled the Keene offense, and patiently worked for to increase the lead. Eli Stack, an excellent contributor off the bench, was brought down in the Keene penalty area, bit no foul was called. The Marauders were great candidates for a makeup call, and Charlie Adams made sure that got the chance, dashing into the Keene box and going down after minimal contact. The Soccer Gods would have wanted a save or a miss, but Adams made sure with his spot kick, and his fifth goal of the season was a badly-needed insurance goal.
Hanover kept coming. A scramble following a corner kick gave Amane Matsuoka a good look at close range, but his goal-bound shot was blocked off the goal line. Another corner kick, another scramble and another sitter: this time Christo Dragnev defied physics and somehow hit a close-range shot over the bar. At the other end, outside backs Judd Alexander and Brendan Brigham, on in relief of Dylan Kotlowitz and Noah Pikielny, had some nice moments in the back, as did Gary Li, subbing in for Matty Gardner, who played 60 minutes of great two-way soccer. The game wound down with no real Keene threats, and the Marauders put a bow on a satisfying, businesslike effort.
The Marauders take on another team with a winning record on Friday, taking to the road to face newly-promoted Portsmouth. The Clippers are coming off their best win of the season, a 1-0 win over Exeter. They are 4-1 on the season, and like Keene they will be eager to test themselves against the storied, dreaded Marauders. Hanover has never played Portsmouth, and the hope is that the novelty of the occasion will be enough to engage the always-ready-to-be cocky Marauders.
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