Freshmen Beat Memorial 3-0 For Their First Win

The Freshmen had been in close matches with all of their first four opponents, and had two draws and two losses to show for it.  Friday afternoon, on the sun-splashed turf of Merriman-Branch Field, they played their best soccer of the year and walked away with a soul-satisfying 3-0 win.

After a scoreless first half, the Marauders got goals from Caleb Putnam, Lincoln Adam and Ben Parrado to earn the victory.  Hanover played solid defense in front of goalies Sawyer Hanlon and Graham Penfield.  Every player on the roster contributed to the effort.

Both teams had stretches of territorial dominance in the first half, but the game was largely a stalemate.  The Marauders had the ball on the Memorial goal line at one point, but neither team had any telling shots on goal.  Hanover center backs David Wilson and Ben Parrado spearheaded a strong back line, aided and abetted by wing defenders Daniel Pinigin, Max Wonsavage, Azor Goodwin and Kezar Berger.  Sam Pych won a lot of balls at midfield, and Hanover also got good two-way play from  Will Cambpell, Lincoln Adam and Brook Leigh.

Hanover took a definite edge in play at the start of the second half.  Graham Penfield, who had been creative as a midfielder, took over in goal.  Hanlon moved to the back line, and Parrado slid into a center midfield slot and was very effective at helping control the play.  The Marauders also took advantage of using every player, receiving good work at midfield from Ian Surat-Mosher,  Ben Ralston-Daniel, Jasper Meyer and Alex Benton.

Twenty minutes into the half, Hanover took a 1-0 lead on Caleb Putnam's third goal of the season. Sam Pych set the play up, playing a nice pass from midfield into space for Caleb, who beat a defender and hit a sweet shot to the lower corner of the goal.  The Marauders kept pressing, and ten minutes later they doubled the lead when Putnam, who had been sent into space by Will Campbell, hit a hard shot across the fact of the goal that was saved by the Memorial goalie, who could not hold onto the ball.  Lincoln Adam, racing in from the left flank, crushed the rebound into the net for a 2-0 lead.

The Marauders continued to play tough defense.  Both Daniel Pinigin and Kezar Berger exemplified
Hanover's strong play, never diving in defensively, and manifesting impressive throw-ins.  Vincent Versteeg and Jasper Meyer both worked extremely hard at midfield, and won a lot of balls with their second effort.  Five minutes from the end,  Ben Parrado authored Hanover's third goal, slotting home the renbound from a Marauder corner kick.

Hanover gets right back into action on Saturday, entertaining Dover at Merriman-Branch Field at 2:30.