The final week of the regular season (and the final, final week for the three subvarsity teams) began with a bang on Monday, as three of the four teams took long road trips to face challenging opponents.
Longer reports will follow, but here are some brief summaries:
The Freshmen crammed onto a bus with the Reserve Girls and headed to Exeter. Because of heavy traffic, they got a late start, and were only able to play sixty minutes, battling the Blue Hawks to a 0-0 draw. Coach Dan Robel's report will be forthcoming.
The JV1s traveled to Nashua for a game with Nashua North at Stellos Stadium. Dodging occasional raindrops, the Marauders held a significant territorial advantage for most of the match, and settled for a 1-1 draw. Hanover scored first, getting a goal midway through the second half on a hard shot by Jack Maynes that glanced off a defender and gave the Marauders a 1-0 lead. The Titans tied the game with 10 minutes left on a far post finish after a dross for the corner pulled the defense out of position.
Hanover had a great chance in the dying minutes when Henry Aspinwall broke free down the left side. The North goalie came off his line to make a challenge, and collided with Henry outside of the box. He got all man, no ball, and after Henry scrambled to his feet and tried to continue, there was no call. The Marauders kept their composure and had several other close looks, but were unable to break through.
Immediately after the JV match, the Marauder Varsity took the turf at Stellos to face a Nashua North team enjoying their best season in history. The Titans had been in the top four of the NHIAA standings all season, until recently ahead of the Marauders. A couple of recent losses have dropped North to seventh, as the Marauders have surged into third. The game at Stellos, nevertheless, was betweeen two serious playoff contenders.
The first serious scoring bid of the match was the North's. Pumped up after Senior Night festivities, the Titans had a break into the Hanover end at the five minute mark, and Joseph Morse had a clear shot on goal from close range. Hans Williams made a diving save to his left to deny the goal, changing the course of the game. Morse had two more shots after the ensuing corner kick, and both were blocked by Marauder defenders. No one knew at the time that this was North's last significant scoring opportunity. The rest of the game belonged to Hanover.
The Marauders soon established a one-sided territorial edge, thanks in particular to the midfield troika of Liam Collins, Matty Gardner and Charlie Adams. Blake Palmer had the first good shot on goal, and then center back Dillon Bradley who had an even better scoring bid, heading wide on a corner kick from Liam Collins, a harbinger of things to come. Just before the 20-minute mark, the Marauders took the lead. Charlie Adams took a ball on the right side, beat his defender to the baseline, closed on the goal, and fed the ball to an onrushing Matty Gardner, who crushed the ball into the net from short range for his third goal of the season.
Nashua North goalkeeper made the first of several spectacular saves a few minutes later, robbing Charlie Adams, but it wouldn't be long until the full force of the Marauder offense kicked into gear.
With a new strike force of David Stoffel, Pat Osborn and Amane Matsuoka in the game, the Marauders doubled the lead in the 27th minute. Stoffel carried the ball down the left side and slipped a pass to Adams, who carried it to the baseline and slipped a perfect pass to Osborn, whose perfectly-timed run into the box gave him an easy tap-in for his second goal in three games and a 2-0 Hanover lead. 90 seconds later, the Marauders put the game out of reach. Adams and Collins triggered a short corner kick, and Collins closed toward the goal before sending s cross to the middle of the box, where Dillon Bradley headed him his long-awaited first goal of the season. It was a coup de grace.
Eager to maintain their edge after the half, the Marauders continued to push hard into the Titan end of the pitch, completely taking the pressure off of their defense. Midway through the half, Adams took a free kick from the edge of the penalty box near the baseline. Very much like a short corner, it gave Adams the opportunity to find Bradley at the far post, and the Marauder Captain headed home his second goal of the day. A minute later, Titan goalkeeper Norris made an excellent diving save to deny a second goal by Gardner, who hit a hard drive from the top of the box.
The Marauders continued to sub throughout the half, until every field player got game time a total of 24 players in all. The level of play remained high, thanks to excellent play by every one. Williams was never threatened in goal, collecting his third shutout of the season. With time winding down, Senior Colm Seigne scored a well-deserved second goal, taking a long lead pass from Nathan Subrahmanian and breaking into the Titan box before unleashing a hard shot into the net.
Hanover has now won six games in a row, and have a firm hold on third place in the NHIAA standings with a 12-3 record. Their final regular season match will be Friday against Londonderry at 4:30. They will celebrate Senior Night, honoring an impressive total of 15 players, nine from the Varsity and six from the JV1 team.
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