Hanover's home opener was a wild one, with the Marauders weathering long stretches of dominant play from a top-flight Bedford team, and rallying for a 2-1 overtime win. Charlie Adams scored the game winner in the second overtime with a brilliant bit of individual play, stealing a ball deep in the Bedford end and nailing a bad-angle shot into the side netting after skinning the Bedford keeper. It was the second goal of the match for Adams, whose 35-yard blast 10 seconds into the second half gave the Marauders new life after a first half that saw them completely outplayed.
Adams' goals were both sensational, but it could be argued that Marauder goalkeeper Hans Williams should be called the Man of the Match after a scintillating performance in net. The senior keeper collected 15 saves, which could be the highest total for a Hanover goalie in several decades, and made half a dozen other big plays to keep his team in the game until Adams electrified the crowd with his golden goal.
The match with Bedford, tabbed by NH soccer pundits as the Team To Beat, did not start well for Hanover. The star-studded Bulldog squad pinned the Marauders into their own end, and dominated the entire half. Bedford Captain Ryan Sledjeski, a Division One commit to Providence, took care of business in his own end and repeatedly ranged forward for dangerous scoring bids. Center midfielder Nathan Statires was just as worrisome, hitting several dangerous shots and forcing Williams to make several good saves. Hanover had zero shots. Zero. With four minutes left to play in the half, Bedford had outshot Hanover 8-0 and taken three corner kicks to none for Hanover. Did we mention that all throughout the first half, Bedford was defending the school-end goal, with strong sun in the eyes of the goalkeeper and defenders? But the Marauders were unable to capitalize on the advantage. Hanover had a pair of free kick opportunities which could have been dangerous, but they fizzled. Nevertheless, the game was scoreless. Hanover had a chance to sneak out of the first half with a pulse. Then a foul on the edge of the box gave Bedford a chance to take a dangerous free kick, and after the ball was served into the Marauder penalty area, where it was boxed around and never cleared. In the ensuing scrum, a Marauder defender was called for a foul, and Bedford was awarded a penalty kick, which was converted with authority by Sledjeski for a 1-0 Bulldog lead.
All was not lost for Hanover, and despite the one-sided advantage for Bedford and the disappointment of conceding a late penalty, the Marauders were nowhere near giving up. They knew that they had subbed a lot on a hot afternoon, it it might be possible to sneak back into the game by using their depth. Assistant Coaches Eric Jayne and Rob Johnstone offered some valuable tactical advice at halftime, and the Marauders started the second half with some hope.
No one, though, was prepared for the first 11 seconds of the second half. Bedford kicked off, disdainful of Hanover's seemingly fruitless practice of going forward directly. Bedford confidently played the ball back into their own end, like the big-time clubs. Oops. The ball was quickly stolen, and Christo Dragnev slid the ball to Adams, who looked up and saw Bedford's new keeper Jacob Statires a few steps off his line. Like the ruthless predator he becomes every time he laces up, Adams launched a shot from 35 yards that sailed over Statires and just under the bar. It was an amazing goal and just like that, Hanover was back in the game, with a dip in their hip and a glide in their stride. The Marauders played with better possession, and had a number of good scoring opportunities.
Bedford was still dangerous, though, and if you remember, now poor Hans Williams and his defenders were staring into the sun. Bedford continued their excellent play, with some added urgency, and the made life hard for the Hanover defenders. Led by stalwart center backs Dillon Bradley and Kyle Doucette, the Marauder defense continued to bend and not break, limiting Bedford to longer shots that Williams continued to save. He handled several Bedford corner kicks with confidence, and came off his line in traffic to gather several dangerous 50-50 balls. Hanover continued to sub, and a number of hardworking midfielders and strikers (Stack, Osborn, Matsuoka, Stoffel, Blinkhorn, Correa, Subrahmanian, Allison) kept the pressure on Bedford and took it off their hardworking defenders. The half wound down quickly, and neither team was able to make the sort of big play that would end the match. It went to overtime.
Faced with the potential for 20 more minutes of bonus soccer, the Marauders had reason to be confident. Several of their most dangerous players had played fewer minutes, and had a little bit left in the tank. Hanover's defenders were a bit fresher. But Bedford was still scary. They had five corner kicks in overtime. They created some dangerous opportuities. Towering midfielder Graham Reynolds hit a screaming shot from 30 meters that left a chem trail as it sailed over the bar. Williams seemed to have it covered, but it was scary. Williams was then forced to make his best save of the game, when a hard shot deflected off a Marauder defender, changed direction, and required a full-out diving save to push to the side.
The first overtime ended, and midway through the second, Adams took the ball deep into the box, and was clearly upended. It was the exact same spot where a foul had been called to give Bedford their only goal. The penalty was never given. Adams, fouled several times and exhausted after coming off for only five minutes, picked himself up with no histrionics. Only a minute later, he struck like a black mamba. Cornering a defender on the endline, he anticipated a backpass, intercepted the ball, raced to the near post, completely skinned poor Statires, and crushed the ball inside the far post. It was an epic goal, and it emptied the Hanover bench, eager to celebrate a signature win.
It's so early in the season. The Marauders have so much room for improvement. But they have made a lot of progress, and they deserved the win. They were well-served by heroics on offense and defense. And 22 different players were given a chance to contribute to the effort. The strength of these wolves was in the pack.
There's no rest ahead for Hanover. They face a huge challenge on Wednesday, when the head to Keene to play a 4-0 team that will be full of energy and confidence. They Marauders have already seen Keene this year. They played them during preseason and lost. They were flatfooted and gave up an early goal, and they never got back into the game. That was a long time ago. Hanover is a much better team. But so is Keene. They have gained a great deal of confidence, and they will be highly motivated to earn a signature win. The Marauders will decamp to their beloved Pasture on Monday and Tuesday, and train on a pitch that will prepare them well for Keene's home ground. They will be ready.
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