Hanover took another step closer to their postseason destiny on Tuesday, taking care of business against an undermanned but determined Spaulding side, defeating the Raiders 9-1. The win was the 10th of the season for the Marauders, and sets up a Friday showdown against Pinkerton, which will bring an identical 10-3 record into the battle between third-place teams, each eager to take a step closer to a top-four finish.
The Marauders knew that they would be facing an outmatched opponent, given Spaulding's winless record, in part because of critical injuries to several of their best players. The best way to approach such a game is the play well, play hard, but respect the opponent. Hanover's solution on this day would be to make sure that no player scored more than one goal, and no one would score after the score reached nine. Both of those goals were accomplished, and everyone on the roster got a lot of valuable playing time. Just as importantly, there was enough quality play to ensure that the game would not be a step backwards.
Charlie Adams and Liam Collins figured out that the best way to stay in the game wold be to focus on assists, and the plan worked well. After nine minutes of patient play, exactly what had been requested, Christo Dragnev hit the first real shot of the match, taking a short back pass from Blake Palmer and forcing goalkeeper Luke Abbett to make a nice diving save. A minute later, Adams found room on the baseline and fed a ball to Aiden Rowley, who finished clinically for his fourth goal of the season and the first seat on the bench. Five minutes later Collins hit a pass from deep in midfield and sprung Dragnev for a breakaway, which he guided well over bumpy turf before finishing at close range for his fifth of the year, and a seat next to Rowley. Pat Osborn took over for Dragnev up top and had enough time to break a sweat before Adams found him in front after another baseline run.
Osborn's close range tap-in was his first goal of the season. The floodgates opened briefly, and Hanover grabbed goals from Adams and Collins in the next two minutes to make the score 5-0, and alter the lineup significantly.
It was not totally quiet at the other end of the pitch. Spaulding was stronger offensively than several of the teams that Hanover has seen, and they had several good looks at goal before before Abe Siregar got loose for a hard shot to the corner that forced Andrew Enelow to make an excellent diving save. The Marauders got one more goal before halftime, when Calen Banjamin made a nice cross from the left side for an easy tap-in by Amane Matsuoka at the far post to make the score 6-0.
With Rowley and Matsuoka already on the bench, the Marauders ran completely out of right wings in the second half when Nico Mayo-Pushee took a pass from Benjamin and hit a nice shot to the far corner for his first goal of the season. Nico has worked very hard to recover from his early-season surgery, and this benchmark was another significant step forward.
To their great credit, Spaulding continue to work hard, and the created several scrambles in front of the Hanover goal. Enelow made another excellent diving save to deny Elyar Dugall, and the rebound was bounced off the post. After that let-off, though, Spaulding would not be denied, and out of a subsequent scramble Ryan Spayd got a great look and put the Raiders on the board.
Hanover shoot off the disappointment, and played excellent soccer for the final 25 minutes. Toño Correa, Will Blinkhorn, Latham Allison and Nathan Subrahmanian did a wonderful job at midfield, and Colm Seigne and Ethan Ross stepped up at center back to keep the pressure on in the Spaulding end. Latham Allison had a number of good scoring chances, but he also did a wonderful job as playmaker, penetrating the right side of the Raider box and dishing to Benjamin for a nice far post finish with his vastly-improved left peg. Allison finished off the scoring with an unassisted goal, intercepting a clearing pass and closing hard and fast to make the final score a respectable and respectful 9-1.
The Spaulding game was a hurdle that Hanover cleared effectively, and now, to quote Bill Belichick, it's on to Pinkerton. In case you're new to this, the last time Hanover faced Pinkerton was the Division One Quarterfinals last October, when a last-minute goal was waved off and the Marauders lost a penalty kick shootout. Now Pinkerton comes to Hanover. The history can serve as a motivator, but the Marauders need to focus on process if they are to emerge from Friday's match with a result. Hanover has made strides throughout the season. They are in a position to claim that they can be equal with some of Hanover's best teams defensively, and they have shown that they are fully capable of scoring big goal in big moments. If they can put the pieces together with the spotlight becoming brighter as the days get shorter, the final three matches of the regular season will be highly entertaining.
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