The early-season battle at the top of the Division One table lived up to expectations for Hanover, which raised its game to beat a good Londonderry team 3-0. Asa Berolzheimer continued his early-season scoring binge with a pair of goals, and Jonah Levine opened his account with a superb strike.
To top things off, the Marauders got to celebrate "Go Orange With The Haven" by collecting half a ton of food and $500 in donations for the Haven's food shelf. We may see those orange socks again.
Although the game began typically as a midfield affair, it was clear that Hanover had come to play. They were pressuring the ball all over the field, and soon some of the Lancer players began showing some frustration with each other. Nevertheless, it was Londonderry that almost drew first blood. Given a free kick 30 yards out on the right side, Lancer striker Cody Woods launched a shot that clanged off the crossbar. Maybe Konrad Mitchell had it covered, Maybe he didn't. But it was a scary moment, given how easily momentum can turn in a game such as this. That's all speculation, because just past the 16-minute mark Hanover broke on top. Jonah Levine controlled the ball on the right side of the attacking zone, and slid a ball to Berolzheimer, who had enough time and space to hit a perfect first-time shot at curled under the bar from 24 yards out. It was his third highlight-reel goal of the young season. Fine. Keep 'em coming. Ten minutes later, Asa had a chance to double the lead, but clanged a short shot of the near upright. On the bench, Grabill tersely growled, "He owes us one."
Londonderry had some other good looks, and kept the back four busy. Ace Londonderry striker Nate Gaw shook loose for a turnround shot from six yards out that was right at Mitchell, who easily gobbled it up. The Marauders also kept the pressure on Londonderry by using their depth, and got good relief from Jake Acker and Josh Wallace in the center of the park.
The Marauders like to think of themselves as a second half team, and after the interval they demonstrated why they have earned that distinction, pressing Londonderry from the start. Six minutes in, Berolzheimer made a slick lead pass to Jamie Dinulos, breaking in from the right wing, and it took a diving save by Lancer goalkeeper Jeff Baroody to keep the Marauders off the board.
Ten minutes later, though, Jonah Levine hit a shot that no one could save, and Hanover took a 2-0 lead. Berolzheimer set the goal up, fighting with a Londonderry defender for a 50-50 ball that popped out to Levine at the top of the box, 25 years out. Jonah scorched a shot to the upper right corner that was, like, you know, OMG.
This was Hanover's third 2-0 lead in a row. Two games ago, against Concord, they coughed up a goal at the end of the match and were forced to battle to hang on. Last Friday against Exeter they held the lead, a significant improvement. This time around, they put the game out of reach by bringing on waves of subs and maintaining the quality of their defense, and then struck for a decisive goal with ten minutes remaining. Avery Kravitz, Tim Alibozek and Henry Allison gave the Mauarders a lot of juice on the flanks. Then, a Londonderry goal kick went straight to Berolzheimer in his favorite part of the field, and he punished the mistake with another decisive strike, his fifth of the young season.
Hanover then flaunted its depth, with Chris Powell, Will Smith and Reilly Decker reprising their good work against Exeter, and Adam Pikelny and Marcus Helble making their varsity debuts. More from them sooner rather than later. Adam showed his defensive grit with an excellent one-on-one duel against a Londonderry striker only yards from his goal. Konrad Mitchell kept his focus in goal, managing the match and making a sparkling play on a loose ball, diving headlong to punch it out of trouble.
The NHIAA Division One season is one-quarter over. Only one team is unbeaten and untied. The Marauders are alone at the top of the table with a 4-0 record, having played increasingly well against three perennial powers. Now they return to their secret lab at the Pasture to tinker on every aspect of their game. 'We've played well enough to earn some good results," commented Grabill, "but we know we can play better. We have to eliminate simple mistakes, communicate better, be more patient with our buildup, and just learn how to play better together. We are so much better than we were three weeks ago, but we have a long way to go".
Next up on the schedule is a road trip to Nashua to play an improved Nashua South squad at 2:30. Their road trip will continue the following Tuesday with a match at Salem. "One game at a time," cautioned the rapidly-aging Marauder mentor. "One game at a time."
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